PM Modi’s birthday through the years: From slicing 73-kg laddoo cake to Cheetah Project and Vishwakarma Yojana

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will mark his 74th birthday today with a visit to Odisha, where he will inaugurate several welfare schemes. Among them is a financial assistance program providing Rs. 10,000 annually to over 1 crore poor women. Additionally, he will inaugurate 26 lakh PM Awas houses at Gadakana in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday, his birthday.
Born on September 17, 1950, in Vadnagar, Gujarat’s Mehsana district, Modi served as Gujarat's Chief Minister for more than 12 years over four terms, making him the longest-serving CM of the state.He became Prime Minister for the first time in 2014.

Last year, Modi celebrated his birthday by announcing a game-changing scheme for peasants, craftsmen, and artisans in the country. Known as the ‘PM Vishwakarma Yojana,’ the scheme was launched on September 17, 2023.
He also inaugurated two key projects: the India International Convention and Expo Centre (IICC) and the extension of the Delhi Airport Express line. To mark his 73rd birthday, his well-wishers in Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency, cut a 73-kg laddoo cake to symbolise his age.

In 2022, Modi celebrated his 72nd birthday by releasing eight cheetahs flown in from Namibia at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh. This was part of the Cheetah Re-introduction Project, which saw the cheetahs brought to Gwalior before being released into the park.
Modi’s 71st birthday in 2021 was marked by administering a record 2.26 crore COVID-19 vaccinations in a single day. A special drive was undertaken to accelerate India’s fight against the Coronavirus.

In 2020, with the country grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, Modi’s 70th birthday was marked with low-key celebrations. The BJP organised 'Sewa Saptah' camps, where ration was distributed to the poor, and blood donation camps were set up to mark the occasion.

On his 69th birthday in 2019, Prime Minister Modi visited the Statue of Unity in Gujarat. He participated in the 'Namami Narmada' festival in Kevadiya to mark the day, which celebrated the filling of the Narmada dam to its full reservoir level of 138.88 metres. Modi also addressed a public gathering in Kevadiya, 200 km from Ahmedabad.