Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on April 9 announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a day-long visit to the state on April 14, will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of several projects with an estimated cost of nearly Rs 8,500 crore.
Upon landing at the Guwahati airport, he will first visit the newly built AIIMS for the inauguration. “PM Modi will inaugurate All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Guwahati on April 14 with a cost of Rs 1123 crore. The AIIMS Guwahati will be 750 beds and 100 MBBS seats,” Sarma told reporters at a press conference.
Along with AIIMS Guwahati, he will inaugurate three more medical colleges in Assam — Nalbari, Kokrajhar and Nagaon. Each medical college will be 500 bedded and 100 MBBS seats. “Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone of Assam Advanced Health Innovation Institute (AAHII) which will be built on the premises of IIT Guwahati with a cost of Rs 600 crore,” Sarma told reporters.
Later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sarma said, will also participate in the closing ceremony of the Platinum Jubilee Celebration of Gauhati High Court.
After participating at the Gauhati High Court’s event, PM Modi will again inaugurate Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited’s 500 TPD Methanol plant, which is jointly developed by the Assam government and Oil India Limited at Namrup with a cost of Rs 1,709 crore. Also, he will lay the foundation stone of the beautification project of Rong Ghar in Sivasagar with a cost of nearly Rs 100 crore.
He will also lay the foundation stone of a new bridge connecting Palashbari-Sualkuchi on the outskirts of Guwahati over the Brahmaputra river with an investment of Rs 3,197 crore.
Finally, he will participate at the Bihu celebration, which will be held at the Sarusajai stadium. “As many as 11,010 Bihu dancers and drummers will perform Bihu dance in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It will be one of its kind never before such a huge number of drummers and dancers joint together. So, this will be a unique achievement and unique celebration of Bohag Bihu this time,” Sarma said.
“The people of Assam are looking forward for April 14 when various economic milestones will be achieved, new projects will become reality and there will be the foundation stone for new projects. So that will be the day of accomplishment, day of hope and that day will also be considered as day of celebration,” Sarma added.
Observed in the first week of the Assamese month of Bohag (mid-April) every year, Rongali or Bohag Bihu heralds the Assamese New Year and is widely celebrated across the state. Assam celebrates Bihu thrice a year, which signifies the distinct cycles of farming – Bhogali or Magh Bihu in January, Bohag or Rongali Bihu in April, and Kongali Bihu in October.
The Himanta Biswa Sarma-led Assam Government is leaving no stone unturned to make the upcoming Bihu festival in Guwahati the greatest spectacle in terms of the congregation, and to make an attempt to register it into the Guinness Book of World Records.
