PM Modi inaugurates northeast’s first AIIMS, dedicates Rs 14,300 crore projects on Rongali Bihu

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Assam on Friday and dedicated Rs 14,300 crore development projects on the first day of the state's spring festival 'Rongali Bihu'.

The prime minister arrived at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport at 11:30 am and attended the first programme of the day at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Guwahati at Changsari in Kamrup (Rural) district.

He dedicated the Rs 1,123 crore medical facility, the first AIIMS in the North East, to the nation and also virtually inaugurated three medical colleges at Nalbari, Nagaon and Kokrajhar.

The 500-bed tertiary care teaching hospitals with 24 undergraduate departments in the three medical colleges will start with 100 annual MBBS student intake, taking the total MBBS student intake to 1500 in Assam.

The Prime Minister also launched the distribution of 1.1 crore Ayushman cards to enable beneficiaries to avail cashless healthcare medical treatment benefits up to Rs 5 lakh.

He also laid the foundation of the Rs 546 crore Assam Advanced Healthcare Innovation Institute (AAHII), a joint initiative of the state government and IIT Guwahati.

AAHII aims to promote inventions and innovations in medicine and healthcare, nurturing multidisciplinary research and development in frontier areas of medicine.

After the completion of these programmes, the prime minister will leave for Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra where he will attend the closing ceremony of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of the Gauhati High Court.

He will attend the day's final programme. at the Sarusajai Sports Complex where he will launch Rs 7,280 crore worth of five projects of new double lines, new lines and electrified tracks of North East Frontier Railway, creating 700 km of railway infrastructure to improve connectivity in the North East.

He will also virtually launch the Rs 1,603 crore methanol plant of Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited at Namrup, lay the foundation for the 12.21 km long Palashbari-Sualkuchi Bridge Project across river Brahmaputra to be built at a cost of Rs 3,200 crore and the foundation of the beautification of Asia's oldest amphitheatre of the Ahom era Rang Ghar Complex at a total cost of Rs 124 crore.

The day's last programme will be the performance of Bihu dancers and drummers who created a Guinness World record on Thursday in the category of the largest recital of Bihu dance and playing of the Bihu 'dhol' (drum) at a single venue.

The prime minister will leave for New Delhi in the evening.