Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit West Bengal on January 17 and 18 to inaugurate and flag off multiple rail, road, and infrastructure projects worth over Rs 4,000 crore.
On January 17, the Prime Minister will visit Malda Town Railway Station to flag off India’s first Vande Bharat Sleeper Train between Howrah and Guwahati (Kamakhya) at around 12:45 PM. He will also virtually flag off the Guwahati-Howrah service.
The fully air-conditioned train is designed to offer passengers an airline-like travel experience at economical fares, reducing travel time by about 2.5 hours and promoting tourism and religious travel.
At around 1:45 PM, Modi will lay the foundation stone of rail and road projects worth over Rs 3,250 crore in Malda.
These include a new rail line between Balurghat and Hili, next-generation freight maintenance facilities at New Jalpaiguri, upgradation of Siliguri Loco Shed, modernisation of Vande Bharat maintenance facilities in Jalpaiguri district, and electrification of the New Coochbehar-Bamanhat and New Coochbehar-Boxirhat rail lines.
The projects aim to strengthen passenger and freight operations, improve logistics efficiency, and generate employment in North Bengal.
Modi will also virtually flag off four new Amrit Bharat Express trains — New Jalpaiguri-Nagercoil, New Jalpaiguri-Tiruchirappalli, Alipurduar-SMVT Bengaluru, and Alipurduar-Mumbai (Panvel) — and two new LHB-coach services, Radhikapur-SMVT Bengaluru and Balurghat-SMVT Bengaluru, enhancing long-distance connectivity for students, workers, and traders.
Additionally, he will lay the foundation stone for the rehabilitation and four-laning of the Dhupguri-Falakata section of National Highway-31D to improve regional road connectivity.
On January 18, at around 3 PM, Modi will visit Singur in Hooghly district to inaugurate, lay the foundation stone, and flag off projects worth over Rs 830 crore.
He will lay the foundation for the Extended Port Gate System at Balagarh, including an inland water transport terminal and a road overbridge.
The 900-acre terminal, with an envisaged capacity of 2.7 million tonnes per year, will improve cargo evacuation, reduce congestion in Kolkata, and generate employment.
The Prime Minister will also launch a state-of-the-art 50-passenger electric catamaran in Kolkata, indigenously built by Cochin Shipyard Ltd., for urban river mobility, eco-tourism, and last-mile passenger connectivity along the Hooghly River.
He will inaugurate the Jayrambati-Barogopinathpur-Maynapur new rail line, part of the Tarkeshwar-Bishnupur project, along with a new train service connecting Maynapur, Barogopinathpur, and Jayrambati. Modi will also flag off three Amrit Bharat Express trains — Kolkata (Howrah)-Anand Vihar Terminal, Kolkata (Sealdah)-Banaras, and Kolkata (Santragachi)-Tambaram — enhancing West Bengal’s rail connectivity with other states.
Officials said the projects will boost infrastructure, improve connectivity, and strengthen the Eastern and North-Eastern regions as key growth engines of the nation.