PM Modi unveils Shivaji Maharaj statue, launches metro rail project in Pune.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently unveiled a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the premises of Pune Municipal Corporation. The statue is made up of 1,850 kg of gunmetal and is about 9.5-feet tall.

Pune Mayor Murlidhar Mohol greeted Modi on his arrival at the municipal corporation headquarters here and offered him a specially crafted headgear.

The PM also paid floral tributes to the statue of social reformer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule at the civic headquarters. Earlier, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, state cabinet minister and senior Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Devendra Fadnavis and BJP state president Chandrakant Patil welcomed Modi after he landed at the Lohegaon International Airport here.

He also inaugurated the Pune metro rail project (two priority stretches of 12 km, out of the total 32.2 km project in the city) and travelled in the train after himself buying a ticket from a kiosk.

During the 10-minute ride, the PM interacted with differently-abled students, some of them visually impaired, present inside the metro coach. Before taking the metro ride from the Garware station, Modi also inspected an exhibition of the project put up there.

The foundation stone of the metro project was also laid by Modi on Dec 24, 2016. The entire metro project is being built at the cost of more than ₹11,400 crore.

HBL