Prime Minister Narendra Modi lands in Chennai en route to Sriharikota

CHENNAI: In his first trip to the south after he assumed office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here today on a special aircraft enroute to Sriharikota to witness the launch of ISRO's PSLV C-23 rocket.

The Prime Minister's special aircraft landed after a delay of 40 minutes following bad weather, after which Modi was welcomed by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Governor K Rosaiah and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in the VIP lounge, airport sources said.

Later, Modi left for the spaceport of Sriharikota, about 100 kilometres from here, where he is set to witness the launch of ISRO's PSLV C23 carrying five foreign satellites tomorrow.

PSLV C23 is scheduled to lift off at 9.52 am tomorrow with 714 kg weighing French Earth Observation Satellite SPOT-7, 14 kg AISAT of Germany, NLS7.1 (CAN-X4) & NLS7.2 (CAN-X5) of Canada each weighing 15 kg and the 7 kg VELOX-1 of Singapore.