Prime Minister Narendra Modi spent Sunday in Varanasi and Bhubaneswar, opening a garment factory, watching an air force display and inaugurating a new Reserve Bank data centre. The visit packed industry, defence and finance into a single day.
The day began in Varanasi, where Modi inaugurated Arvind Limited’s new garment manufacturing facility in the Mirzamurad area at around 11 am. He later attended the Air Force Day aerial display at Namo Ghat, then flew to Bhubaneswar for the evening inauguration.
The visit drew wide attention online through the day. Searches for the prime minister’s Varanasi trip rose sharply, with interest peaking around midday as the air show began.
Garment unit opens in Varanasi
The new facility is expected to strengthen India’s textile and garment manufacturing and create jobs, particularly for women. Modi interacted with around 300 women during the visit to the unit.
The Prime Minister’s Office said the facility would help products made in Varanasi reach customers around the world. It described the unit as a predominantly women-led initiative and a symbol of women-led development.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who accompanied Modi, called the unit a landmark for industrial growth in Kashi. He said it would create new opportunities for workers and dignified livelihoods for women.
The facility will use modern manufacturing practices and serve a global customer base. Its opening underlines Uttar Pradesh’s push to attract industrial investment and expand manufacturing capacity.
Wings over Ganges
At around 1 pm, Modi watched the Air Force Day Aerial Display 2026 at Namo Ghat as the chief guest. The display marked the 94th anniversary of the Indian Air Force under the theme Wings over Ganges.
The show featured the Tejas, the Light Combat Helicopter Prachand, the Su-30MKI and the Rafale, along with transport aircraft. Aircraft from the Indian Navy and the Indian Army also took part, and the Surya Kiran and Sarang display teams performed.
Around 100 aircraft took part in the display, and Varanasi hosted an air show of this scale for the first time. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath watched alongside the prime minister.
Spectators said the show was a memorable experience, and several said it could inspire young people to join the Air Force. One visitor said it was the first time he had seen an air show of this scale.
Preparations for the event had been reviewed a day earlier by the chief minister. Officials had stressed crowd convenience and security, along with cleanliness on the main roads around the venues.
RBI data centre in Bhubaneswar
Modi reached Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar at around 4.30 pm and flew by helicopter to Khurda. He then travelled by road to the facility at Infovalley-II in Jatni for the inauguration at around 4.45 pm.
The Reserve Bank’s new data centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute will host mission-critical payment and settlement systems. Four state-of-the-art data centres at the facility will support the central bank’s flagship initiatives.
The facility has received Tier-IV certification from the Uptime Institute, the highest category of operational resilience. It is among the largest Tier-IV certified facilities in the global banking, financial services and insurance sector.
The cybersecurity institute will train people and carry out research in cybersecurity and enterprise technology. Its work will cover emerging areas for the financial sector, including quantum computing and artificial intelligence.
The new infrastructure is expected to make digital financial services more reliable and secure. It is also meant to give the Reserve Bank a future-ready computing base as more payments move online.
The visit ended a day in which Modi moved from a factory floor in Uttar Pradesh to an air show on the Ganga and then to a data centre in Odisha. Each stop carried a different message: jobs in manufacturing, strength in defence and security in digital finance.
