PM launches key projects in Varanasi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Varanasi, launched as many as 17 projects, worth over Rs 1,000 crore, and laid foundation stones for half a dozen other projects on Friday.

The PM claimed that "in the past many decades, Kashi has never witnessed the launching of so many projects of this magnitude".

He also inaugurated the Deendayal Hastkala Sankul or Trade Facilitation Centre and Craft Museum. Spread over 43,445 square metres at Baddalalpur, the centre-cum-museum was constructed at a cost of Rs 305 crore in a record time of less than two years. Modi spent almost an hour inspecting the centre, along with Union Minister for Textiles Smriti Irani, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya.