NEW DELHI: One rises 359 metres above a river in the Himalayas. Another stretches 21.8 kilometres between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. A third stands 182 metres high beside the Narmada, making it the world’s tallest statue.
As Narendra Modi approaches 25 years as the head of a government, infrastructure provides one of the most visible ways of looking at the period — first through projects associated with his Gujarat years and later through bridges, railways, monuments and public buildings inaugurated during his tenure as Prime Minister.
The Chenab Rail Bridge in Jammu and Kashmir is the world’s highest railway arch bridge.
The structure stands 359 metres above the riverbed and stretches 1,315 metres across the Chenab.
Prime Minister Modi inaugurated it on June 6, 2025, as part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link.
The bridge closed one of the most difficult engineering gaps in the long-running effort to provide direct rail connectivity to the Kashmir Valley.
The government’s architectural showcase notes that its height is about 35 metres greater than the Eiffel Tower.
Mumbai’s Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sewri-Nhava Sheva Atal Setu offers a very different number: 21.8 kilometres.
Of its total length, about 16.5 km runs over the sea.
Built at a cost of more than Rs 17,840 crore, the six-lane bridge was inaugurated by Modi on January 12, 2024.
The government describes it as both India’s longest bridge and its longest sea bridge.
Its foundation stone had been laid in December 2016.
The crossing links Mumbai with Navi Mumbai and improves access towards the Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Mumbai-Pune Expressway and Navi Mumbai airport corridor.
The Statue of Unity in Gujarat reaches 182 metres, making it the world’s tallest statue.
Dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, it was inaugurated by PM Modi at Kevadia on October 31, 2018.
The foundation stone had been laid by Modi in October 2013 when he was Gujarat chief minister.
In Assam, the Bogibeel Bridge combines road and rail across the Brahmaputra.
The 4.94-km bridge was inaugurated on December 25, 2018, and is India’s longest rail-cum-road bridge.
Its history, however, long predates the Modi government.
The project was sanctioned in 1997-98, and work began in 2002 during the government of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The 9.15-km Dhola-Sadiya bridge, later named the Bhupen Hazarika Setu, was inaugurated by PM Modi on May 26, 2017.
At the time, the government described it as India’s longest bridge.
The bridge improved road connectivity between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh and has strategic significance because of its proximity to India’s northeastern frontier.
Another engineering first came in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Anji Khad Bridge is India’s first cable-stayed railway bridge.
The 725-metre structure stands 331 metres above the Anji riverbed and is supported by 96 high-tensile cables, according to government data.
It was inaugurated along with the Chenab Bridge in June 2025 as part of the Kashmir rail-link project.
Not all the projects are transport infrastructure.
PM Modi inaugurated India’s new Parliament building on May 28, 2023.
The triangular building was designed with a Lok Sabha chamber capable of seating 888 members and a Rajya Sabha chamber for 384 members, with increased capacity for a joint sitting.
Its foundation stone was laid in December 2020.
