New Delhi, 04 July (H.S.):

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a one-day visit to Rajasthan and Gujarat on Saturday, launching and dedicating to the nation a series of major infrastructure, transport, energy and technology projects aimed at boosting industrial growth, regional connectivity and semiconductor manufacturing.

According to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the visit will begin in Rajasthan before concluding in Gujarat, where the Prime Minister will inaugurate one of India's first semiconductor packaging facilities approved under the India Semiconductor Mission.

The first leg of the visit will take the Prime Minister to Jodhpur at around 10:45 a.m., where he will inaugurate the newly built airport terminal constructed at a cost of nearly Rs 480 crore. Spread across more than 23,000 square metres, the modern terminal is designed to handle around two million passengers annually and is expected to significantly improve air travel infrastructure in western Rajasthan.

During the same event, Prime Minister Modi will launch the revamped UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme. Backed by an allocation of Rs 28,840 crore over the next decade, the expanded programme aims to strengthen regional air connectivity by developing 100 new airports, building 200 heliports and expanding access to affordable air travel across the country.

The Prime Minister will later travel to Balotra, where he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones for development projects collectively valued at nearly Rs 1.06 lakh crore.

The centrepiece of the programme will be the dedication of India's first greenfield integrated refinery-cum-petrochemical complex at Pachpadra. Developed at a cost exceeding Rs 79,450 crore, the refinery has a capacity of 9 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) and is expected to enhance India's energy security, reduce dependence on imported petrochemical products and create large-scale employment opportunities in the region.

Prime Minister Modi will also lay the foundation stone for Phase II of the Jaipur Metro Rail Project. Estimated to cost over Rs 13,000 crore, the expansion will add a 41-kilometre north-south metro corridor comprising 36 stations, improving connectivity between key residential, commercial and industrial areas of Jaipur. The city's existing Phase I corridor is already operational.

Other major projects include the inauguration and foundation laying of the Churu-Sadulpur and Churu-Ratangarh railway doubling works, a four-lane section of the Jodhpur Ring Road, 1,000 MW and 300 MW solar power projects in Bikaner, and associated power transmission infrastructure to support Rajasthan's growing renewable energy capacity.

During the Rajasthan programme, appointment letters will also be handed over to nearly 54,000 newly recruited candidates selected for various departments of the state government.

In the evening, the Prime Minister will visit Sanand in Gujarat to inaugurate CG Semi's Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility. Built with an investment exceeding Rs 7,500 crore, the plant is among the first four semiconductor projects approved under the India Semiconductor Mission.

Once fully operational, the facility will be capable of producing up to five billion semiconductor chips annually. The chips are expected to cater to industries including automobiles, telecommunications, 5G, industrial electronics and the Internet of Things (IoT), strengthening India's ambition to become a global semiconductor manufacturing hub.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar