PM Modi’s Mangaluru visit: Public program timing’s changed

Mangaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public program which was scheduled to be held at 4 pm at Goldfinch City has been rescheduled to 1.30 pm.

The PM will arrive from Cochin at Mangaluru International Airport and will land at Helipad of NMPT by helicopter.

PM Modi will reach Goldfinch City by road from NMPT at 1.30 and leave from the grounds at 2.30 pm. He will return at 3 pm.

Over 1 lakh people are expected to attend the event.

According to an official release, the Prime Minister will inaugurate the project worth over Rs 280 crore for mechanization of Berth No. 14 for handling containers and other cargo, undertaken by the New Mangalore Port Authority.

The mechanized terminal will increase efficiency and reduce the turnaround time, pre-berthing delay, and dwell time in the Port by around 35 percent, 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, the release added.

Modi will also lay the foundation stone of five projects worth around Rs 1,000 crore, undertaken by the port that day.

The integrated LPG and Bulk Liquid POL Facility, equipped with state of an 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 release said.

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.

Further, he will lay the foundation stone of projects for the 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; also the foundation for the development of Fishing Harbour at Kulai, which will facilitate safe handling of fish catch and enable better prices in the global market.

Later, the Prime Minister 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 crore, will facilitate the production of ultra-pure environment-friendly BS-VI grade fuel (with sulfur content less than 10 PPM); while the Sea Water Desalination Plant, set up at a cost of around Rs 680 crore, will help reduce dependency on fresh water and ensure regular supply of hydrocarbons and petrochemicals throughout the year.