Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Gujarat and Maharashtra on September 8, where he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones for railway, highway and other infrastructure projects worth more than Rs 35,000 crore.
In Vadodara, Modi will dedicate three completed sections of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC), covering 326 route km and involving an investment of more than Rs 20,700 crore. He will also flag off new freight train services and a passenger train between Tanda Road and Vadodara.
WDFC, Jobat-Tanda rail line, Vadodara-Ratlam, Miyagam Karjan-Choranda among key railway projects
The three WDFC sections to be commissioned are New Sanand (North)-New Makarpura, New Umbergaon-New Saphale and New Saphale-New JNPT.
Modi will also dedicate the Jobat-Tanda Road new railway line, developed under the Chhota Udepur-Dhar project. The line will connect remote and tribal areas of Alirajpur with the national rail network.
The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for three railway projects covering 329 km at a combined cost of more than Rs 9,700 crore. These include the third and fourth railway lines between Vadodara and Ratlam, gauge conversion of the Miyagam Karjan-Choranda-Malsar section and doubling of the Vishwamitri-Dabhoi line.
The projects are expected to expand passenger and freight handling capacity, reduce congestion and improve rail connectivity between Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
Western Dedicated Freight Corridor to improve cargo movement
The commissioning of the three WDFC sections will provide direct connectivity to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA), allowing faster movement of export-import cargo between industrial centres and ports.
The dedicated freight infrastructure is expected to reduce logistics costs, cut transit time, ease pressure on Mumbai’s railway network and strengthen multimodal connectivity. It will also facilitate smoother movement of cargo across different regions.
With these sections becoming operational, the entire Dedicated Freight Corridor network will stand fully operational.
NH-48, NH-53 projects to strengthen Gujarat road connectivity
Three National Highway projects worth around Rs 1,780 crore will also be taken up. These include six-laning of the Kamrej-Chalthan stretch of NH-48, construction of additional structures, including major bridges over the Tapi and Narmada, on the Vadodara-Surat section of NH-48, and grade-separated structures at Abhava, Mindhola and Khajod junctions on NH-53.
The projects are expected to improve traffic movement and connectivity on key highway corridors in Gujarat while addressing congestion at important junctions.
Ring Road, floating solar project
Apart from railway and highway projects, the Prime Minister will also inaugurate or lay the foundation stones for various Gujarat government projects worth around Rs 2,600 crore.
Key projects include Phase II of the Vadodara Urban Development Authority Ring Road and a 110 MW floating solar project at Kadana Dam. The package also includes a new Vadodara Municipal Corporation office, housing projects under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and a water-supply project covering 11 villages in eastern Vadodara.
Later in the day, Modi will travel to Mumbai to inaugurate the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2026 and address the gathering. The seventh edition of the conference is being held from September 8 to 11, with this year’s theme being “Potential to Impact: Agentic AI, Tokenisation, Quantum – Trusted, Connected, Global Systems for Inclusive Finance.”