In Maharashtra, Modi gives Navi Mumbai airport a push: Top 10 developments

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Mumbai on Sunday to inaugurate the Navi Mumbai International Airport. At the same event, he will also dedicate to the nation the fourth container terminal at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Container Terminal (JNPT). Prime Minister Modi will also deliver the inaugural address at the Global Investors' Summit - "Magnetic Maharashtra: Convergence 2018"

1. Modi to lay foundation stone of Navi Mumbai airport today

After 21 years of wait, Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lay the foundation stone for the Rs 167-billion Navi Mumbai airport today.

2. Modi to open fourth container terminal of JNPT today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the fourth container terminal (FCT) of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai on Sunday. The new FCT will add a capacity of 24 lakh containers per year in Phase-I and after completion of Phase-II in 2022, the capacity of JNPT will be 100 lakh containers per year.

It has been developed on Design, Built, Fund, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis for a concession period of 30 years at an estimated cost of Rs 7,915 crore.

The foundation stone for the project was laid by the Prime Minister in October 2015, and Phase I has been completed in record time. This Terminal will be linked to the dedicated rail freight corridor and will be able to receive about 350 containers per rake.

3. Magnetic Maharashtra

The stage is set for the ambitious three-day long "Magnetic Maharashtra: Convergence 2018" conclave which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here today.

With the tagline #MadeForBusiness, the conclave is billed as one of the biggest event of its kind after the Prime Minister's 'Make In India' initiative was launched in February 2016 in Mumbai. At this conclave, Maharashtra intends to sign nearly 5,000 MoUs, with an investment of Rs 10 lakh crore (close of $156 billion) that is expected to generate employment for 35 lakh people.

4. Modi's interaction with CEOs

Modi would be interacting with CEOs and industry leaders and attend a cultural event at 7:45pm.

5. JNPT

It has been developed on Design, Built, Fund, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis for a concession period of 30 years at an estimated cost of Rs 7,915 crore

The foundation stone for the project was laid by the Prime Minister in October 2015, and Phase I has been completed in record time. This Terminal will be linked to the dedicated rail freight corridor and will be able to receive about 350 containers per rake.

6. Navi Mumbai 

Planned in 1997 as a secondary airport to meet the growing needs of Mumbai at an investment of Rs 30 billion (Rs 3,000 crore), the project was inordinately delayed due to a myriad of factors, including political indecision, issues of environmental clearances and the funding.

The new FCT will add a capacity of 24 lakh containers per year in Phase-I and after completion of Phase-II in 2022, the capacity of JNPT will be 100 lakh containers per year.

With the PM laying the foundation stone on Sunday, the Navi Mumbai International Airport, being built by the state-run Cidco and the GVK Group which also runs the Mumbai international airport, is all set to take off at a humongous cost of over Rs 167 billion (Rs 16,700 crore).

This Terminal will be linked to the dedicated rail freight corridor and will be able to receive about 350 containers per rake.

7. Inauguration of Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence

PM Modi will inaugurate the Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence, at the University of Mumbai. Founded by Romesh and Sunil Wadhwani — brothers, philanthropists, and tech billionaires — the Wadhwani AI will be based in Mumbai. According to IndiaTimes, the Wadhwani AI institute will create a curriculum for AI to train skilled Indian workforce coming not only out of Mumbai or Maharashtra but the entire nation. The research institute will also have AI and research experts from Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, and few other leading world universities (among whom the MOUs are currently being finalized) to come and teach at Wadhwani AI.

8. Modi's visit to Mysore

Modi will make his maiden visit to Mysuru Railway Station where he will flag off the Humsafar Express train and Electric train service from Mysuru to Bengaluru on Monday.

9. Presently, Maharashtra contributes 15 per cent to the gross domestic product that is estimated to grow at 9.4 per cent in the current fiscal, according to officials organising the summit.

Manufacturing contributes 21.43 per cent to the state's Gross State Domestic Product, and Maharashtra has attracted 45.24 per cent of the total foreign direct investment received by India in the first half of the fiscal.

Though Maharashtra is already acknowledged as the finance and entertainment capital of India, with 'Magnetic Maharashtra', the government hopes to catapult it on the path to make it the trade and manufacturing capital as well.

10. Participants in #MadeForBusiness

Some of the participants who have confirmed to attend this huge summit are Reliance Industries Ltd Chairman and MD, Mukesh Ambani, Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic, Tonino Lamborghini SpA President Tonino Lamborghini, Edward Monser, President, Emerson Electric Co, Hande Diltemiz, country manager, Global production, India, H&M, Cho Hyun-Joon, chairman, Hyosung Group, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, group chairman and CEO, DP World, among others.

Besides top Indian ministers and officials, Representatives of foreign governments like Karin Roding, Sweden's State Secretary to the Minister, and Bardish Chagger, Canada's Minister of Small Business and Tourism, Waterloo, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant will also be participating.