PM Modi Launches ₹35,000 Crore Projects in Vadodara, Reaches Out to Gen Z

Vadodara | 8 Sep 2026

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated, dedicated and laid the foundation stones for development projects worth more than ₹35,000 crore in Vadodara on Tuesday, combining a major infrastructure push with a youth-focused “NaMo for Viksit Bharat” programme.

PM Modi attends Gen Z-focused event in Vadodara

Modi walked along a Y-shaped ramp extending into the audience at the event venue, where young participants had gathered around the stage. The format was designed to facilitate closer engagement with students, professionals and other young attendees.

An ANI video, sourced from Doordarshan, showed the crowd welcoming the Prime Minister as he entered the “NaMo for Viksit Bharat” programme.

Free public registration for the programme was managed through BookMyShow. Organisers said all available seats were booked within an hour and more than 42,000 additional applicants were placed on a waiting list. Registered participants received digital tickets carrying live QR codes for entry verification.

Three Western Dedicated Freight Corridor sections commissioned

The largest component of the Vadodara package comprised three sections of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor covering 326 route kilometres and developed at a cost exceeding ₹20,700 crore.

The commissioned sections are New Sanand North–New Makarpura, New Umbergaon–New Saphale and New Saphale–New Jawaharlal Nehru Port. Their opening provides direct freight connectivity to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the sections are intended to accelerate the movement of export-import cargo, connect industrial centres with ports, reduce transit and logistics costs and ease pressure on Mumbai’s conventional railway network.

Modi also flagged off freight services from New Sanand North, New Makarpura, New Umbergaon and New JNPT.

New railway line connects tribal areas

The Prime Minister dedicated the Jobat–Tanda Road railway line, developed as part of the Chhota Udepur–Dhar project. The line connects remote and tribal areas of Madhya Pradesh’s Alirajpur district with the national railway network.

A new passenger train between Tanda Road and Vadodara’s Pratapnagar station was also flagged off. The service is expected to benefit passengers in Vadodara, Chhota Udepur and Alirajpur.

Foundation stones were laid for three railway projects covering 329 kilometres and costing more than ₹9,700 crore. These include the third and fourth lines between Vadodara and Ratlam, gauge conversion of the Miyagam Karjan–Choranda–Malsar section and doubling of the Vishwamitri–Dabhoi railway line.

Highway and Gujarat projects included in package

Modi laid the foundation stones for three National Highway projects estimated to cost approximately ₹1,780 crore. The works include six-laning of the Kamrej–Chalthan section of NH-48 and additional structures, including major bridges across the Tapi and Narmada rivers, on the Vadodara–Surat section.

The highway package also covers grade-separated structures at the Abhava, Mindhola and Khajod junctions on NH-53. Six-lane flyovers at Kandari Chokdi and Luvara Patia were inaugurated to improve road safety at identified accident-prone locations.

Gujarat government projects worth around ₹2,600 crore were also included. Among them were Phase II of the Vadodara Urban Development Authority Ring Road, a proposed 110 MW floating solar project at Kadana Dam and a new Vadodara Municipal Corporation office.

The completed works included housing developed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and a drinking-water supply project covering 11 villages in eastern Vadodara.

Mumbai fintech event next on schedule

After his Gujarat engagements, Modi was scheduled to travel to Mumbai to inaugurate the seventh Global Fintech Fest and address its opening session.

The conference is being held from 8 to 11 September under the theme “Potential to Impact: Agentic AI, Tokenisation, Quantum – Trusted, Connected, Global Systems for Inclusive Finance”. It brings together policymakers, regulators, financial institutions, technology companies, investors and academic representatives.