Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate three key projects in Gujarat on 24th October, via video conferencing. Prime Minister will launch the ‘Kisan Suryodaya Yojana’ for the farmers of Gujarat and he will also inaugurate the Ropeway at Girnar on the occasion.

Kisan Suryodaya Yojana: In order to provide day-time power supply for irrigation, the  Gujarat Government had recently announced the ‘Kisan Suryodaya Yojana’. Under this scheme, farmers will be able to avail power supply from 5 am to 9 pm. The state government has allocated a budget of Rs 3500, crore for installing transmission infrastructure under this scheme by 2023. As per the government statement, 234 ‘66-Kilowatt’ transmission lines, with a total length of 3490 circuit kilometers (CKM) will be established under the project, in addition to 220 KV substations.

Dahod, Patan, Mahisagar, Panchmahal, Chhota Udepur, Kheda, Tapi, Valsad, Anand and Gir-Somnath have been included under the Scheme for 2020-21. The remaining districts will be covered in a phase-wise manner by 2022-23.

Girnar Ropeway: Gujarat will get a tourism boost as the Prime Minister will also inaugurate the Ropeway at Girnar. Initially, there will be 25-30 cabins, with a capacity of 8 people per cabin. A distance of 2.3 km will now be covered in just 7.5 minutes through the ropeway. In addition to this, the ropeway will also provide a scenic view of the lush green beauty surrounding the Girnar mountain.

For the uninitiated, Girnar ropeway is a ropeway on Mount Girnar in Junagadh district, Gujarat. It is Asia's longest ropeway. First proposed in 1983, the construction for the project started only in September 2018 due to government approval delays and litigation. The construction and operation is managed by Usha Breco Limited. 

The ropeway is constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 110 crore which included the construction of the lower and upper terminals as well as nine poles supporting the rope. It operates mono-cable gondola detachable type lifts. It takes passengers 850 metres (2,800 ft) above the hill to the Amba temple. Nine towers have been erected between Bhavnath Taleti and Ambaji Temple, the highest being 66-metre on the thousandth step of Girnar

It has 25-30 trolleys with a capacity of eight passengers each. It can carry 1,000 passengers per hour but operates at a capacity of 800 passengers per hour and 8000 per day. In one run, 192 passengers will be able to travel. The trip takes 7.43 minutes. Last month, under the supervision of four engineers from Austria, the trial run of the ropeway was carried out. One trolley was used for the run without any weight.

Aside from the scheme for farmers and the Girnar Ropeway, Prime Minister will also inaugurate Paediatric Heart Hospital attached with the U.N Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre and a Mobile Application for tele-cardiology at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad. U.N Mehta Institute will now become India’s biggest hospital for cardiology in addition to being one of the select few hospitals in the world with a world-class medical infrastructure and medical facilities.

It is worth mentioning that the U.N Mehta Institute of Cardiology is undergoing expansion at the cost of Rs 470 crores. The number of beds will increase from 450 to 1,251 after the completion of the expansion project. The Institute will also become the biggest single super speciality cardiac teaching institute in the country and one of the biggest single super speciality cardiac hospitals in the world.