PM to visit Lucknow twice over weekend

In back-to-back visits to the Uttar Pradesh capital on Saturday and Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take part in urban development programmes and attend a mega groundbreaking ceremony to launch projects worth Rs 60,000 crore.

Tomorrow, he will attend an event on Transforming Urban Landscape, the Prime Minister's Office said.

This will mark the third anniversary of three key government initiatives related to urban development -- Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation of Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and the Smart Cities Mission.

The prime minister will visit an exhibition on Flagship Missions of Urban Development. He will interact with 35 beneficiaries of PMAY (U), one from each state or union territory, the statement said.

He will receive feedback from PMAY beneficiaries, via video link, from different cities of Uttar Pradesh and lay the foundation stone for various projects under the flagship missions.

He will address the gathering and leave for New Delhi in the evening.

On Sunday, he will attend the ground-breaking ceremony for 81 projects which came to Uttar Pradesh during an investment summit organised by the state government in February.

This has led to generation of investment intent worth more than Rs 4.28 lakh crore across sectors like renewable energy, infrastructure, power, IT and tourism, the statement claimed.

Within a few months, investment proposals for 81 projects amounting to an investment of about Rs. 60,000 crore have materialised for groundbreaking, it said.

The two visits are the latest in a series of trips by the prime minister to Uttar Pradesh, as the ruling BJP prepares for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

A week ago, Narendra Modi was in Shahjahanpur to address a farmers rally.

In the recent past, he has also been to Varanasi, Azamgarh, Mirzapur and Sant Kabir Nagar.