Guwahati, Jan 10: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for a 34.5-km elevated corridor through Kaziranga National Park in Assam later this month, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Friday.

Modi’s two-day visit will begin on January 17, during which he will witness a grand performance of the Bodo folk dance ‘Bagurumba’ by 8,000–10,000 artistes at Sarusajai Stadium in Guwahati that evening. He will stay overnight at State Guest House No. 1 before proceeding to Kaliabor in Nagaon district the next day for a public rally at Mouchanda field.

At the rally, Modi will inaugurate the Rs 6,957-crore project Assam’s largest elevated corridor stretching from Kaliabor to Bokakhat. The state government has completed land acquisition, and the National Highways Authority of India is finalizing tenders.

The corridor is expected to reduce travel time from Guwahati to Jorhat, Sivasagar, and beyond from 1 hour 15 minutes to just 20 minutes, while protecting wildlife from vehicle collisions during annual floods. The existing route will remain operational, offering travelers multiple options.

Sarma also announced that Modi will flag off two new trains from the rally one between Dibrugarh and Gomti, and another between Guwahati and Rohtak. Additionally, the first Vande Bharat sleeper train from Kolkata to Guwahati will be launched on January 17, bringing three new train services in two days.

In other Cabinet decisions, one bigha of land in Guwahati was approved for the Bodo Sahitya Sabha’s multi-purpose project, along with land allotments under Mission Basundhara 2.0.