Modi's Diwali gift to poll-bound HP: Vande Bharat, IIT

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday flagged off the country's fourth Vande Bharat Express train from Una railway station in Himachal Pradesh.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Himachal Pradesh Governor Rajendra Arlekar and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur during the flagging-off ceremony of Vande Bharat Express train, in Una. Photograph: PTI Photo

The train will run between Amb Andaura in Himachal Pradesh to New Delhi.

The new Vande Bharat train is an advanced version compared to the earlier ones, being much lighter and capable of reaching higher speed in shorter duration, officials said.

The train will run six days a week except on Wednesdays, with stops at Ambala, Chandigarh, Anandpur Sahib, and Una. It accelerates to 100 km per hour in just 52 seconds. The introduction of the train will help boost tourism in the region and provide a comfortable and faster mode of travel.

Modi also laid the foundation stone of a Bulk Drug Park in Una and dedicated to the nation the Indian Institute of Information Technology-Una.

Modi laid the foundation stone of the Bulk Drug Park at Haroli which will be built at a cost of more than Rs 1,900 crore.

The park will help reduce dependence on API imports. It is expected to attract investments of around Rs 10,000 crores and provide employment to more than 20,000 people.

The foundation stone of the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT)-Una was laid by Modi in 2017.

IMAGE: Modi receives a memento from Himachal CM Jai Ram Thakur as Union I&B Minister Anurag Thakur looks on, during a ceremony to lay the foundation stone of Bulk Drug Park and dedicate the Indian Institute of Information Technology-Una to the nation. Photograph: Press Information Bureau

During a rally Modi at Una's Indira Gandhi stadium, Modi accused previous governments of not providing people with facilities that were available to people elsewhere in the world even in the 20th century and in Gujarat a few years back.

"We will provide you facilities of the 20th as well as the 21st centuries," Modi added.

He said the people in Himachal Pradesh would now beak the trend of voting different parties to power in every elections.

"I am pleased to announce gifts worth several thousand crores for Himachal before Dhanteras and Diwali," the prime minister said.

The prime minister was accorded a warm welcome by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on his arrival at the Pekhubela helipad in Una.

This is Modi's ninth visit to Himachal Pradesh in the last five years.

Himachal Pradesh is going to polls later this year.

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