PM Modi in Odisha to launch projects worth ₹69,000 crore

Bhubaneshwar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Odisha on Saturday, where he is set to launch projects worth nearly Rs.69,000 crore in the Sambalpur district, of which at least Rs.58,000 crore will be for coal and power projects, party officials aware of the matter said on Thursday.

Modi is scheduled to visit Sambalpur town on February 3 to inaugurate the permanent campus of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Sambalpur and lay the foundation stones of at least four thermal power plants totalling 5,570 megawatts, said officials mentioned above.

The PM’s visit to Sambalpur holds significance as the western Odisha region is the bastion of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with five of the eight Lok Sabha members of the party from here.

In Jharsuguda, Modi will inaugurate several projects and also lay the foundation stones for new projects. Later, he will address a public gathering in Remed, which is likely to be attended by around 150,000 people, officials said.

In the power sector, the PM will launch projects worth nearly Rs.29,000 crore, which includes laying the foundation stone for state-run National Thermal Power Corporation’s (NTPC) Talcher-III Thermal Power Project (2x660 MW) and inauguration of its Darlipali Super Thermal Power Project (2x800 MW).

NTPC is developing Talcher Thermal Power Project, Stage-III within the old Thermal Power Project plant premises in Angul district, which was taken over by NTPC from Odisha State Electricity Board in 1995. The old Talcher Thermal Power Station plant was decommissioned after completing more than 50 years of service to the nation.

Modi will also lay the foundation stone for the first phase of Neyveli Lignite Corporation’s Talabira Thermal Power Project (3x800 MW) and inaugurate the doubling of the Jharsuguda-Barpali-Sardega railway line and at least three first-mile coal connectivity projects, said officials.

NLC India’s Talabira Thermal Power Project is currently the biggest thermal power plant planned by the Union coal ministry. The total planned capacity of the Talabira would be 3,200 MW.

The PM would also inaugurate NSPCL(NTPC-SAIL Power Company Limited) Rourkela Power Plant-II Expansion Project (1x250 MW) which would provide reliable power to the Rourkela Steel Plant.

Modi’s public gathering in Sambalpur is being seen as the BJP’s onset of an aggressive campaign in western Odisha, where it has lost its territory to the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) since the last Lok Sabha and assembly polls. BJD trumped BJP in the 2022 panchayat polls and 2023 urban body polls in entire western Odisha, party officials added.

Over the last five years, BJD has taken up a slew of developmental projects, including irrigation projects, to move ahead of the BJP. Last month, the BJD unveiled the grand Maa Samlei Heritage Corridor project in Sambalpur, under which the temple of Maa Samaleswari in the western Odisha town was given a huge facelift for Rs.200 crore.

BJP officials said that PM Modi’s visit to Sambalpur would give a huge fillip to the prospects of Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is likely to contest as the BJP nominee from the Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency.