PM Modi rolls out projects worth Rs 145 billion in Odisha, new IIT campus

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated projects worth Rs 145.2 billion in Odisha and opened the new campus of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in state capital Bhubaneswar, spending a day in a state ruled by the Biju Janata Dal, a former ally of the National Democratic Alliance.

IIT-Bhubaneswar’s new campus spreads over 936 acres and was set up at an investment of Rs 12.6 billion to accommodate more than 1700 students. "I got the opportunity to dedicate IIT Bhubaneswar to the youth. This grand campus will not only be a centre of dreams for the youth of Odisha but will also provide employment opportunities,” Modi said.

Modi, remotely from the IIT campus, laid the foundation stone for a permanent campus of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Berhampur. The institute is coming up on a 200-acre plot in Ganjam district with an investment of Rs 16 billion.

"In the last four years and a half, the Union government has approved many institutions relating to education, science and technology throughout the country. It gives impetus to the government's vision of New India," said Modi.

He laid the foundation stone for a 1212-km pipeline of the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) that will cost Rs 38 billion and traverse Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to carry diesel, kerosene and aviation turbine fuel sourced from IOCL's Paradip crude oil refinery. 

The pipeline, with a capacity of 4.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), will provide connectivity to a new grassroot depot in Berhampur. It will also connect IOCL's depots at Vizag, Rajahmundry and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh and Hyderabad along with associated facilities in Paradip, Odisha.

Modi laid the foundation stone for GAIL (India) Ltd’s Bokaro-Angul pipeline, which envisages an investment of Rs 34 billion and will be part of the 2650-km Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga. 

He held a ground-breaking ceremony for highway projects worth Rs 45 billion part of visit, inaugurated an archaeological museum in Lalitgiri, dedicated upgraded facilities of the government ESI Hospital in Bhubaneswar, and inaugurated the Buxi Jagabandhu Research Chair of the Utkal University.

As a part of the bicentenary celebration of the historic Paika Rebellion, the Prime Minister released commemorative coins and Rs five postage stamps.