Kochi (Kerala): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will commission the country's first indigenously built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant at the Cochin Shipyard Ltd in Kochi on Friday. He will be on a two-day visit to Kerala to attend various programmes on Thursday and Friday. He will inaugurate several development projects of Kochi Metro and Indian Railways on Thursday.
Official sources said that upon arrival here on Thursday evening, PM Modi will address a public meeting and later visit the Adi Shankara Janmabhoomi Kshetram (temple) at Kalady, the birthplace of the Hindu saint. Also, the PM would lay foundation stone for Kochi Metro Phase- II project at 6 PM on Thursday and inaugurate phase-1A, first stretch from SN Junction to Vadakkekotta. Besides that, Modi would also inaugurate and lay the foundation for various railway infrastructure projects in the southern state.
On the second day of his visit, at the commissioning of INS Vikrant, Modi will also "unveil the new naval ensign (Nishaan) thereby doing away with the one representing colonial past," the PMO had said in a statement.
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Meanwhile, the Kochi Metro in a statement said that its foundation-laying ceremony would be held at CIAL Trade Fair and Exhibition Centre. Governor Arif Muhammed Khan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan would also be attending the event. The proposed phase-II corridor of Kochi Metro Rail Project from JLN stadium metro station to Infopark, Kakkanad, would cover a stretch of 11.2 km and have 11 stations.
With the inauguration of Phase IA, Kochi Metro would cover at least 27 km with 24 stations. The revenue operations of both the stations would begin at 7 PM soon after Modi dedicates the stations to the people of Kochi. As the SN junction and Vadakkekotta stations are opening for revenue operations, KMRL is expecting to touch an average of one lakh commuters per day, it added.
The PM's programme related to railway projects would also be held at CIAL (Cochin International Airport Ltd) Trade Fair, a southern Railway press release said. Among the railway developments projects for Kerala, Modi will lay the foundation stone for three station redevelopment projects worth an estimated Rs 1,059 crore, the release said.
These railway stations will be equipped with state-of-the-art amenities and world-class facilities such as dedicated arrival/ departure corridors, aesthetically designed interiors with facilities for differently-abled passengers, skywalks, spacious parking lots, attractive landscape with gardens and inter-modal transport facilities.
The Prime Minister will dedicate to the nation the doubling of 27 km of tracks in the Kuruppanthara-Kottayam-Chingavanam section completed at a cost of Rs 750 crore, the release said. With this, the entire 634 km stretch from Thiruvananthapuram to Mangaluru will be fully doubled, promising faster and seamless connectivity for the travelling public, it said.
PM Modi will also dedicate to the nation a newly electrified section between Kollam-Punalur completed at a cost of Rs 76 crore and will flag off special train services as well between Kottayam-Ernakulam and Kollam-Punalur.
