The nine-km long section from IIT Kanpur to Moti Jheel was completed in a record two years time
PM Modi inaugurated the completed section of the Kanpur Metro Rail Project and took a ride in the metro on Tuesday. ANI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated a new section of the Kanpur Metro Rail project as he visited the city in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.
The prime minister was accompanied by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri as he took a ride from the IIT metro station to Geeta Nagar.
The nine-km long section from IIT Kanpur to Moti Jheel was completed in a record two years time.
The entire length of the project in Kanpur is 32 km and it is being built at a cost of over Rs 11,000 crore, according to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has proposed to invest 650 million euro in Kanpur Metro, its second-biggest operation outside the EU till date. EIB is the European Union’s official bank and the world’s largest international public bank. The EIB had earlier sanctioned a 450 million euro loan for the development of Lucknow Metro.
Improving urban mobility has been one of the key focus areas of the prime minister and the metro project is yet another step in this direction, officials said.
According to reports, the first section of the project is expected to open in January 2022.
The construction work of the Kanpur Metro project was started on 15 November, 2019, while the trial run on the 9 km stretch from IIT to Motijheel Priority Corridor took place on 10 November this year.
The inauguration of the metro project comes ahead of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh polls next year and will mark one of the key developmental projects of the BJP government in the state.
PM Modi will also inaugurate a 356-km long pipeline project during his visit to the city.
The Bina-Panki pipeline project has a capacity of around 3.45 million metric tonne per annum. Extending from Bina refinery in Madhya Pradesh to Panki in Kanpur, the project has been built at a cost of over Rs 1,500 crore.
Earlier in the day, PM Modi attended an event at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, where he launched the blockchain-based digital degrees.
Addressing the 54th convocation ceremony of IIT Kanpur, also attended by Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel and CM Yogi Adityanath, Modi said, “Today is a day of double happiness for Kanpur. On one hand, Kanpur is getting a metro rail facility and on the other hand, the world of technology is also getting priceless gifts from IIT Kanpur.”
The students were issued digital degrees through an in-house blockchain-driven technology developed under the National Blockchain Project. These degrees can be verified globally and can’t be forged.
“We should have achieved a lot of things by the time India completed 25 years of independence. But unfortunately, we couldn’t do much. But now, we do not have even two minutes to waste. We must strive religiously for Atmanirbhar Bharat,” PM Modi said.
He said India has emerged to be the second biggest startup hub in the world, and this feat has been achieved majorly with the help of students from IITs.
With inputs from PTI
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