Bhubaneswar (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Odisha on Saturday, during which he will unveil development projects valued at more than Rs 60,000 crore in sectors such as telecommunications, railways and higher education, officials said.

From western Odisha’s Jharsuguda town, he will commission more than 97,500 4G telecom towers built with BSNL’s ‘swadeshi’ technology, marking India's entry into a league of nations such as Denmark, Sweden, South Korea, and China that manufacture homegrown telecom equipment.

In a post on X, the prime minister said, "Will be in Jharsuguda, Odisha, to inaugurate developmental works...In a historic feat, over 97,500 telecom towers across India would be commissioned. These have been built using local technologies and will boost connectivity in remote areas, border areas and those affected by Maoism."

Besides several projects specific to Odisha, Modi will lay foundation stones for the expansion of eight IITs across the country, which will create capacity for 10,000 new students over the next four years.

"The other projects being launched or foundation stones being laid pertain to rail connectivity, expansion of IIT infrastructure, skill development centres, housing and much more. These works are in line with our vision to build a Viksit Bharat where the poor and downtrodden get access to all-round development," Modi said.

Initially, the place for his public meeting was fixed at Berhampur in Ganjam district in the southern part of the state, but it was later changed to Jharsuguda due to a forecast of heavy rain in that region on Saturday.

However, the IMD on Friday said Jharsuguda is among nine districts where thunderstorm and lightning with gusty surface wind speed reaching 20-30 kmph gusting to 40 kmph is likely to occur.

According to the official schedule, Modi will arrive at the meeting venue at 11:25 am and depart from Odisha around 12:45 pm.

He will flag off the Amrit Bharat Express connecting Berhampur with Udhna in Gujarat’s Surat district via video conference. He will also inaugurate a 5 km flyover in Sambalpur City, built at a cost of Rs 273 crore.

Modi will dedicate the doubling of the 34-km Koraput–Baiguda rail line and the 82-km Manabar–Koraput–Gorapur section, built at a cost of Rs 1,400 crore, officials said.

These upgrades will power mineral transport and open fresh pathways for growth in southern Odisha, benefiting industries and local communities alike, an official statement said.

He will also grant super-speciality status to MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur and VIMSAR hospital in Sambalpur, launch a national skill development programme, and provide aid to 50,000 beneficiaries under the Antyodaya scheme.

This will be the Prime Minister's sixth visit to Odisha in 15 months since the BJP came to power in the state in June 2024.

Modi's visit to Jharsuguda comes after a gap of seven years. He had come to the town on September 22, 2018, to inaugurate Odisha's second commercial airport.