Large crowd greets PM Modi during roadshow in Gujarat's Banaskantha

Banaskantha: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district on Friday morning and held a roadshow, receiving an enthusiastic welcome from people gathered along the route. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi accompanied the Prime Minister during the roadshow.

The visit is part of PM Modi’s two-day Gujarat tour on October 30 and 31, during which he is scheduled to launch and dedicate development projects worth more than Rs 14,000 crore in Banaskantha and release the 24th instalment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), amounting to around Rs 19,000 crore.

One of the major events of the day is the dedication of the Bharat Bovine Breeding and Research Centre (BBBRC) at Bhildi to the nation.

Spread over 127 acres, the facility has been established as a Centre of Excellence to strengthen cattle breeding, genetic improvement and advanced reproductive technologies.

The centre will be the country's first facility-of-its-kind dedicated to the Kankrej cattle breed.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, it is expected to accelerate breed improvement by 10-20 times.

Before the inauguration, PM Modi had highlighted the centre's potential in a post on social media platform X, saying it would help increase milk production per animal, improve breed quality and raise farmers' incomes while supporting the conservation of indigenous cattle breeds.

The Prime Minister is also scheduled to lay the foundation stones for two Bio-CNG plants of Banas Dairy at Tharad and Radhanpur, with cattle dung processing capacities of 75 metric tonnes and 100 metric tonnes per day, respectively.

Other projects on the agenda include the expansion of Ahmedabad Metro towards the airport and GIFT City, the widening of Ahmedabad-Mehsana Road from four to eight lanes at an estimated cost of Rs 2,600 crore, and the development of 4,030 new child-friendly Anganwadi centres.

PM Modi will also dedicate 521 completed projects under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, with a combined project cost of around Rs 4,950 crore, and flag off the Ahmedabad (Sabarmati)-Varanasi Express and Mehsana-Becharaji-Sabarmati MEMU services.

Later in the day, the Prime Minister will travel to Ekta Nagar in Narmada district to inaugurate 'Bharat Parv 2026' and witness 'Ekta Prakash Parv' as part of the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas celebrations.

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