World's Largest Office, Surat Diamond Exchange, To Open Today
![]() 8090 Sunday, 17 December, 2023, 23:24 Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Surat in Gujarat and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh today. Around 10:45 AM, the Prime Minister will inaugurate the new integrated terminal building at Surat Airport. Following this, around 11:15 AM, the Prime Minister will inaugurate the Surat Diamond Bourse, a press release from the Prime Minister's Office said. Thereafter, PM Modi will travel to Varanasi, and around 3:30 PM, he will participate in the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra. Around 5:15 PM, he will inaugurate Kashi Tamil Sangamam 2023 at Namo Ghat. PM Modi will inaugurate the new integrated terminal building at Surat Airport. The terminal building is equipped to handle 1,200 domestic passengers and 600 international passengers during peak hours and has provisions for further increasing the peak hour capacity to 3000 passengers, with the annual handling capacity increasing to 55 lakh passengers, the release said. The terminal building, as it is the gateway to Surat City, has been designed with its local culture and heritage, ensuring that the essence should reflect both in interior and exterior, creating a sense of place for the visitors. The facade of the upgraded terminal building aims to enrich the passenger experience with the rich and traditional woodwork of the old houses of the 'Rander' region of Surat City, the release stated. The GRIHA IV compliant, new terminal building of the airport is equipped with various sustainability features like a double-insulated roofing system, canopies for energy savings, a low heat gain double-glazing unit, rainwater harvesting, water treatment plant, sewage treatment plant, the use of recycled water for landscaping and solar power plant, among others. PM Modi will also inaugurate the Surat Diamond Bourse. It will be the world's largest and most modern centre for international diamond and jewellery businesses and a global centre for trading both rough and polished diamonds as well as jewellery. The bourse will comprise a state-of-the-art 'Customs Clearance House' for Import-Export; a jewellery mall for retail jewellery businesses; and a facility for international banking and safe vaults, the release said. In Varanasi, the Prime Minister will participate in the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra at the Cutting Memorial School grounds in Varanasi. There, the Prime Minister will interact with the beneficiaries of various government schemes, such as PM Awas, PM SWANidhi, PM Ujjwala among others. In line with his vision of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, the Prime Minister will inaugurate Kashi Tamil Sangamam 2023 at Namo Ghat. On the occasion, PM Modi will also flag off the Kanyakumari-Varanasi Tamil Sangamam train, the release said. On Monday, at around 10:45 AM, the Prime Minister will visit Swarved Mahamandir, which will be followed by its inauguration in a public function at around 11:30 AM. At around 1 PM, PM Modi will participate in the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra. Thereafter, in a public function, at around 2:15 PM, the Prime Minister will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects worth over ₹ 19,150 crores. ![]() |

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