Overview
- Chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday in New Delhi, presented the Bastar 2.0 blueprint and invited the PM to visit during the monsoon for project launches.
- The plan seeks special assistance for 61 proposals and outlines 228 new roads, 267 bridges, rail upgrades including the Raoghat–Jagdalpur line, expansion of Jagdalpur Airport, and two Indravati River barrages for irrigation.
- The tourism drive includes upgrades at Chitrakote and Tirathgarh waterfalls and Kanger Valley National Park, new canopy‑walk and glass‑bridge projects, and IRCTC‑linked tour packages with 75% fare support to draw visitors from Raipur to Bastar.
- Officials say recent Maoist surrenders and large weapons recoveries have weakened the insurgency, while security sources flag demining and the social reintegration of surrendered cadres as the next hard tests.
- The blueprint pairs big works with services that change daily life, from Education Cities and a medical college to upgraded rural schools and primary health care, with jobs and skills programs designed to pull remote tribal villages into the formal economy.