Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Vadodara visit on September 8 is set to be notable not just for the scale of infrastructure projects on the agenda, but also for an unusual experiment in public participation. For the first time, people were invited to register for a prime minister's public programme in Vadodra for free through the BookMyShow platform.
The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) used the private ticketing platform to handle registrations for the event, titled "NaMo for Viksit Bharat", which will be held at the Maharaja Sayajirao University Pavilion on Tuesday. The programme will bring together citizens, students, professionals, educators, entrepreneurs, industry representatives and members of civil society around the government's vision of a developed India by 2047.
The response to the registration exercise was swift. All available seats were booked within an hour of registration opening, while more than 42,000 additional applicants were placed on a waiting list, reported news agency ANI. Registration was subsequently closed.
The event will also use a fully digital entry system. Those who have registered will receive an electronic M-ticket through their BookMyShow accounts, with a live QR code that will be used to authenticate entry.
The public event comes alongside a packed schedule for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will also travel to Maharashtra on Tuesday. In Vadodara, around noon, he is scheduled to inaugurate, dedicate to the nation and lay the foundation stones for development projects with a combined value of more than Rs 35,000 crore.
A major highlight will be the dedication of three Western Dedicated Freight Corridor sections spanning 326 km, making the entire freight-corridor network operational.
Built at a cost exceeding Rs 20,700 crore, the sections will provide northern India with direct rail connectivity to Mumbai's Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT), facilitating quicker EXIM cargo movement, lowering logistics costs and easing pressure on existing railway routes.
Modi will also flag off freight services from New Sanand, New Makarpura, New Umbergaon and New JNPT, besides a new passenger train connecting Vadodara with Tanda Road.
The Prime Minister will dedicate the Jobat-Tanda Road rail line, aimed at linking remote and tribal areas of Alirajpur to the national railway network. Foundation stones will also be laid for three railway projects spanning 329 km and costing more than Rs 9,700 crore, along with three highway projects worth around Rs 1,780 crore.
Gujarat government projects worth about Rs 2,600 crore are also on the agenda, including a second-phase ring road around Vadodara, a 110 MW floating solar project at Kadana Dam and a new municipal corporation office. Housing under PMAY and a water-supply project for 11 villages will also be inaugurated.
Later in the day, Modi will travel to Mumbai to inaugurate the Global Fintech Fest 2026, whose theme focusses on agentic AI, tokenisation and quantum technologies in building trusted, connected and inclusive financial systems.
