PM Modi to lay foundation stone of redevelopment of New Jalpaiguri railway station; flag off Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express tomorrow

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in West Bengal on Friday to launch development projects worth over Rs 7,800 crore in the state and flag off the Vande Bharat Express connecting Howrah and New Jalpaiguri.

The Prime Minister's Office said Modi will also chair the second meeting of the National Ganga Council (NGC) in Kolkata.

Among the new projects, he will lay the foundation stone and also inaugurate multiple sewerage infrastructure projects worth over Rs 2,550 crore, it said.

He will inaugurate Joka-Taratala stretch of Purple Line of Kolkata Metro, launch multiple railway projects and lay the foundation stone of redevelopment of the New Jalpaiguri railway station.

A National Institute of Water and Sanitation named after BJP ideologue Syama Prasad Mookerjee will be inaugurated as well, it added.

In yet another step to boost cooperative federalism, the PMO said, Modi will chair the NGC meeting in Kolkata and several Union ministers besides the chief ministers of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh,

Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal are expected to attend the meeting.

The NGC spearheads the exercise for preventing pollution in Ganga and its tributaries and their rejuvenation.