Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Karnataka and Kerala on September 1-2 to commission the first indigenously built aircraft carrier Vikrant in Kochi and open projects worth around Rs 3,800 crores in Mangaluru.
The Prime Minister will visit the birthplace of Adi Shankara at Kalady near Cochin Airport on September 1.
The next day, Modi will commission the indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant at Cochin Shipyard Ltd in Kochi. Thereafter, he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of projects worth around Rs 3,800 crores in Mangaluru.
Designed by Navy’s in-house Warship Design Bureau (WDB), Vikrant has been built with with state of the art automation features and is the largest ship ever built in India’s maritime history.
It is named after her illustrious predecessor, India’s first aircraft carrier which played a vital role in the 1971 war.
It has a large number of indigenous equipment and machinery, involving major industrial houses in the country as well as over 100 MSMEs.
With the commissioning of Vikrant, India will have two operational aircraft carriers.
During the event, the Prime Minister will also unveil the new Naval Ensign (Nishaan), doing away with the colonial past and befitting the rich Indian maritime heritage.
In Mangaluru, Modi will inaugurate a project worth over Rs 280 crore for mechanisation of Berth 14 to handle containers and other cargo undertaken by the New Mangalore Port Authority.
The mechanized terminal will increase efficiency and reduce turnaround time, pre-berthing delay and dwell time in the Port by around 35 per cent, thus giving a boost to the business environment.
Phase I of the project has been successfully completed, thereby adding over 4.2 MTPA to the handling capacity, which would further increase to over 6 MTPA by 2025.
Modi will also lay the foundation stone of five projects worth around Rs 1000 crore, undertaken by the port.
The integrated LPG and Bulk Liquid POL Facility, equipped with state of the art cryogenic LPG storage tank terminal will be capable of unloading full load VLGC (very large gas carriers) of 45,000 tonnes in a highly efficient manner.
The facility will bolster Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in the region while reinforcing the port’s status as one of the top LPG importing ports in the country.
The Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of projects for construction of storage tanks and edible oil refinery, construction of bitumen storage and allied facilities and construction of bitumen and edible oil storage and allied facilities.
The PMO said that these projects will improve the turnaround time of bitumen and edible oil vessels and reduce the overall freight cost for trade.
Modi will also lay the foundation stone for development of Fishing Harbour at Kulai, which will facilitate safe handling of fish catch and enable better prices in the global market.
He will inaugurate two projects undertaken by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited viz BS VI Upgradation Project and Sea Water Desalination Plant.
The BS VI Upgradation Project, worth around Rs 1,830 crores, will facilitate production of ultra-pure environment friendly BS-VI grade fuel (with sulphur content less than 10 PPM).
The Sea Water Desalination Plant, set up at a cost of around Rs. 680 crores, will help reduce dependency on fresh water and ensure regular supply of hydrocarbons and petrochemicals throughout the year.
Having a capacity of 30 Million Litres per Day (MLD), the Plant converts seawater into water required for the refinery processes.
