Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a two-day visit to Assam on Friday, during which he will stay at Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO Heritage Site renowned for its one-horned rhinos.
Modi is scheduled to arrive at Tezpur in the late afternoon and from there, he will fly to Panbari in Kaziranga in a helicopter. He will spend the night at the Police Guest House near the Central Kohora Range of the park.
The park is being spruced up to welcome the Prime Minister. Besides a cleanliness drive undertaken on the park premises, several infrastructure projects were taken up after Modi's stay was announced. Security has also been tightened in the park.
The Prime Minister is expected to spend two hours in the park and may undertake a jeep ride or jungle safari on Saturday morning. The jeep safari and elephant ride will remain closed in the Kaziranga range of Kohora from March 7 to 9.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters on Thursday that the Prime Minister will inaugurate the Tinsukia Medical College and lay the foundation stone of Sivasagar Medical College under the PM-DIVINE scheme on Saturday. "PM Modi will lay the foundation stone for the expansion of Digboi Refinery from 0.65 Million MT to 1 Million MT at a cost of Rs 768 crores. He will also lay the foundation stone of the expansion of Guwahati Refinery from 1 million MT to 1.2 million MT at a cost of Rs 510 crore," Sarma said.
After undertaking the safari, Modi will leave for Arunachal Pradesh, where he is scheduled to attend two programmes. He will return to Jorhat in the afternoon and inaugurate the 125-ft high 'Statue of Valour' of legendary Ahom general Lachit Barphukan.
Modi will then proceed to Meleng Meteli Pothar, where he will inaugurate and lay the foundation of central and state projects worth a total of around Rs 18,000 crore, the officials said. He is also scheduled to address a public meeting at the venue.
After the meeting, he will leave for West Bengal.
