PM Modi inaugurates Gujarat’s first AIIMS in Rajkot

Rajkot: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Gujarat’s first All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rajkot, on Sunday.

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Mansukh Mandaviya, and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel were present at the inauguration of AIIMS Rajkot.

“Gift of new AIIMS to Gujarat! Prime Minister @NarendraModi dedicated AIIMS, Rajkot to the nation!” Mansukh Mandaviya posted on X.

Before the inauguration, PM Modi inspected the hospital along with the Union Health Minister and other officials of the hospital.

Today is an important day for the health sector. India gets 5 new AIIMS.

While in Rajkot, I went to the AIIMS Rajkot campus. These institutions will strengthen healthcare infrastructure in different parts of India. pic.twitter.com/5SnOzkeJN5

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 25, 2024

PM Modi laid the foundation stone for the institution via video-conferencing in December 2020. The hospital was built at a cost of Rs 1,195 crore.

PM Modi will inaugurate a medical college of JIPMER at Karaikal, Puducherry, and a 300-bed satellite center of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical and Educational Research (PGIMER) in Sangrur, Punjab, among many other health projects spread across the country, the statement said.

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister inaugurated the ‘Sudarshan Setu’ connecting the Okha mainland and the Beyt Dwarka island, built at a cost of around Rs 980 crore.

Delighted to inaugurate Sudarshan Setu today – a bridge that connects lands and people. It stands vibrantly as a testament of our commitment to development and progress. pic.twitter.com/G2eZEsa7EY

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 25, 2024

The 2.32 km-long cable-stayed bridge is the longest of its kind in the country, the PMO said in a statement.

Sudarshan Setu boasts a unique design, featuring a footpath adorned with verses from the Bhagavad Gita and images of Lord Krishna on both sides, it said.

It also has solar panels installed on the upper portions of the footpath, generating one megawatt of electricity, the statement said.

Before the construction of the bridge, pilgrims had to rely on boat transport to reach Beyt Dwarka.

PM Modi kicked off his two-day Gujarat visit with a roaring roadshow in Jamnagar on Saturday.