PM Modi’s Assam visit Day 2: Healthcare, infra & green energy projects in focus
Healthcare push at Mangaldoi 11:30 am, green energy spotlight at Numaligarh refinery from 2:15 pm
A file image of the bioethanol plant in Numaligarh. (Photo:@himantabiswa/X)
Darrang/Golaghat, Sept 14: On the second day of his Assam visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil a slew of infrastructure, healthcare, and energy projects worth Rs 18,530 crore in Darrang and Golaghat districts on Sunday. He is also scheduled to address two public rallies during the day.
According to the schedule, Modi will arrive at Mangaldoi around 11:30 am, where he will lay the foundation stones for the Darrang Medical College, along with a nursing college and a General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) school.
“...The first programme will take place in Darrang, where the foundation stone will be laid for the Medical College and Hospital, as well as the Nursing College. The foundation stone will also be laid for the Guwahati Ring Road Project…” wrote Modi in a social media post.
The combined investment in these healthcare projects stands at Rs 570 crore, officials said.
The Prime Minister will also launch two major connectivity projects in the region—the 2.9-km Narengi-Kuruwa bridge, to be built at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore, and the ambitious 118.5-km Guwahati Ring Road project, connecting Kamrup and Darrang districts in Assam with Ri Bhoi in Meghalaya.
Later in the day, Modi will travel to Numaligarh in Golaghat district, where he will inaugurate a bamboo-based ethanol plant built at a cost of over Rs 5,000 crore. With a production capacity of 50 KTPA (kilo tonnes per annum) of fuel-grade ethanol, the facility is the first of its kind in the world to use bamboo as feedstock, officials said.
He will also lay the foundation stone for the Rs 7,230-crore Petro Fluidised Catalytic Cracker Unit at Numaligarh Refinery, designed to produce 360 KTPA of propylene.
The unit is expected to significantly strengthen India’s plastic value chain and reduce import dependency. The programme at Numaligarh is scheduled to begin at 2:15 pm.
Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, who reached Numaligarh on Saturday ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit, said the projects to be unveiled and inaugurated at the refinery—together worth over Rs 12,000 crore—would place Assam and the Northeast firmly on the global green energy and petrochemical map.
“These projects are a reflection of the central government’s commitment towards Net Zero and Atmanirbhar Bharat,” Puri said in a social post.
He described the bamboo-based ethanol facility as a “zero-waste plant” that will use every part of the bamboo to produce high-value industrial chemicals while also generating 25 MW of green electricity.
On the proposed polypropylene unit, the minister said it would reduce India’s import dependency for the material by 20 per cent, leading to foreign exchange savings of USD 85 million annually and generating employment equivalent to 75,000 man-days every year.
“These projects reflect Prime Minister Modi’s love and dedication for the people of Assam and the North-East, and his commitment towards Net Zero and Atmanirbhar Bharat,” Puri added.
PTI