Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Bengaluru today to inaugurate a new stretch of the city's Metro network and unveil a package of development projects worth more than ₹15,600 crore, in a visit that puts Karnataka's infrastructure — from urban transit to renewable energy — at the centre of the day's agenda.

The centrepiece is the inauguration of the elevated section of Namma Metro's Pink Line, from Kalena Agrahara to Tavarekere, built at a cost of around ₹3,470 crore. The Prime Minister is scheduled to flag off a train at around 12:45 pm and travel on the Metro from Tavarekere towards the IIM Bangalore station. Passenger services on the new section are set to begin on Saturday at 6:00 am.

A network past 100 km

The 7.5 km stretch takes Bengaluru's Metro network from 96.1 km to 103.6 km, crossing the 100 km mark and making it India's second-largest Metro network. The full Pink Line corridor, when complete, will run 21.26 km; it was first estimated to cost around ₹8,730 crore.

Three stations on the new section have been renamed ahead of the opening, and the state government has described the day as a milestone for the city's public transport. Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said on Thursday that the state had done a great job in preparing for the Prime Minister's visit, while acknowledging that much more remained to be done.

Beyond the Metro

The wider package the Prime Minister will inaugurate or lay the foundation stone for spans urban mobility, power transmission, renewable energy, petroleum infrastructure, waste management and railways. It includes transmission schemes to bring renewable power from Koppal-II and Gadag-II into the grid, at an investment of around ₹4,450 crore, and a solar energy transmission scheme in Bidar worth about ₹1,370 crore, along with the foundation stone for further transmission infrastructure in the Davanagere, Chitradurga and Ballari renewable energy zones, at over ₹3,450 crore.

In the energy sector, Mr. Modi will dedicate to the nation India's largest underground LPG storage cavern in Mangaluru, constructed at a cost of over ₹850 crore. On the railways, the programme includes four stations redeveloped under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme — Chamarajanagar, Chikkamagaluru, Sakleshpur and Subrahmanya Road — the doubling of a 45 km section between Bagalkot and Vandal, and the flagging off of a Bengaluru–Mangaluru Vande Bharat service.

A two-day visit

The Prime Minister begins the day at around 10:45 am with the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Prashanti Kutiram, the residential headquarters of Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (S-VYASA) in Bengaluru, before moving to the Metro inauguration and the project launch ceremony. He will also inaugurate the COSMOS-Mysuru Planetarium during the visit, which continues into Gujarat on November 14.

For Bengaluru's commuters, the practical test begins on Saturday morning, when the first trains on the Pink Line carry passengers from Kalena Agrahara towards the city centre — the latest step in a network that has grown steadily into one of the country's busiest urban transit systems.