PM's Mumbai public event venue changed amid rain threat

The venue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public event in Mumbai on Saturday was shifted to the Jio World Centre's mega convention centre from the MMRDA Grounds due to possibility of rain, officials said.

The Jio World Centre, built by richest Indian Mukesh Ambani, is located in close vicinity of the MMRDA Grounds in the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) business district.

Officials said the convention centre, billed as one of the largest in the country, has a capacity to accommodate 15,000 people, while the MMRDA grounds can host about one lakh people.

This is also one of the biggest events being hosted at the Jio World Centre, where wedding of Ambani's son Akash was held in March this year. Eventually, Ambani is planning to shift Reliance Industries' corporate headquarters in the future.

Life in the financial capital was thrown out of gear earlier this week following torrential rains. The PM is on one-day visit to poll-bound Maharashtra.

He is set to lay the foundation for three metro lines which will be built at an investment of Rs 19,000 crore, and a part of the 337-km metro rail network for Mumbai.

The PM is scheduled to perform bhoomipujan for Metro Bhavan in the Aarey Colony through remote control. The Bhavan is being built by acquiring 82 hectares of land in the green belt.

Modi will also inaugurate the first metro coach manufactured by the state-run Bharat Earth Movers (BEML) at its Bengaluru facility.

The visit comes amid heavy protests by civil society groups and celebrities, including actor Shraddha Kapoor, against the civic body's nod to fell 2,700 trees in the Aarey Milk Colony for creating metro infrastructure.

Later in the day, the PM will be travelling to Aurangabad in the backward Marathwada region to inaugurate the 10,000-acre Aurangabad Industrial City (AURIC) and also address women self help groups.

Modi was also scheduled to visit Nagpur for metro projects, but the same had to be postponed at the last moment due to heavy rain forecast.