PM Modi to inaugurate Noida City Centre-Electronic City Metro section, archaeology institute

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Greater Noida on Saturday to inaugurate the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Institute of Archaeology at Knowledge Park-II. Minister of State for Culture Mahesh Sharma will also be present at the event. The prime minister will also unveil the statue of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya on the premises of the institute, the foundation stone of the Institute Building was laid by Home Minister Rajnath Singh on October 28, 2016 during the celebrations of 100th Birth Anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay. The Institute of Archaeology is an academic wing of the ASI under the Ministry of Culture.

Prime Minister Modi will also inaugurate the 6.6-km Noida City Centre-Noida Electronic City section, an extension of the Delhi Metro's Blue Line on Saturday. The completely elevated section has six stations -- Sector 34, Sector 52, Sector 61, Sector 59, Sector 62 and Noida Electronic City. "The prime minster is slated to inaugurate the Noida City Centre-Noida Electronic City section tomorrow from a rally in Greater Noida. Services will begin the same day at 4 pm," a senior DMRC official had said on Friday.

Once the Noida City Centre-Noida Electronic City section becomes operational, the extended corridor will also bring the Blue Line close to the recently-opened Aqua Line, which connects Noida and Greater Noida.

The Sector-52 station of the DMRC's Blue Line is very close to the Sector-51 station on the Aqua Line, operated by the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC), and its commuters are awaiting last-mile connectivity between the two lines.

Plans are afoot to connect the two lines through a dedicated pathway and a carriage-way for e-rickshaws, officials said earlier.

There is a distance of around 300 metres between the Sector-51 metro station, the terminus of the Aqua Line in Noida and the upcoming Sector-52 metro station of the Blue Line.

(With PTI inputs)