Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off a Metro train in Pune on Thursday and also launch various development projects worth over Rs 226 billion. An official statement said the inauguration of Pune Metro section of District Court to Swargate will mark the completion of Pune Metro Rail Project (Phase-1). The cost of the underground section between District Court to Swargate is around Rs 18 billion.
He will also lay the foundation stone for Swargate-Katraj extension of Pune Metro Phase-1 to be developed at the cost of around Rs 29 billion. This southern extension of around 5.46 km is completely underground with three stations namely Market Yard, Padmavati and Katraj, it said. Among other projects, he will lay the foundation stone for the memorial for Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule's first girl school at Bhidewada in commemoration of the noted social reformer.
In line with his commitment to make India self-reliant in the field of supercomputing technology, the statement said, Modi will dedicate to the nation three PARAM Rudra Supercomputers worth around Rs 1.3 billion, developed indigenously under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).
These supercomputers have been deployed in Pune, Delhi and Kolkata to facilitate pioneering scientific research. Giant Metre Radio Telescope (GMRT) in Pune will leverage the supercomputer to explore Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) and other astronomical phenomena. Inter University Accelerator Centre (IUAC) in Delhi will enhance research in fields like material science and atomic physics.
The S N Bose Centre in Kolkata will drive advanced research in areas such as physics, cosmology and earth sciences, it added.
During his visit to the poll-bound state, the prime minister will inaugurate a high-performance computing (HPC) system tailored for weather and climate research. This project represents an investment of Rs 8.5 billion, marking a significant leap in India's computational capabilities for meteorological applications.
Located at two key sites, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune and the National Center for Medium Range Weather Forecast (NCMRWF) in Noida, this HPC system has extraordinary computing power. The new HPC systems are named 'Arka' and 'Arunika,' reflecting their connection to the Sun, it said.
