India, Feb. 22 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to launch Project Lion with an estimated budget of Rs.2,927 crore in Gujarat's Gir on the World Wildlife Day on March 3, said two state government officials familiar with the matter. Modi is also expected to chair a meeting of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) there, they said.

Gujarat is the last abode for Asiatic lions in the wild. Modi announced Project Lion in his 74th Independence Speech on August 15, 2020, and shared the government's resolve and commitment to work for the long-term conservation of Asiatic lions in the country.

Modi last visited Gir in 2007 during his tenure as Gujarat's chief minister, following the deaths of around eight lions in the Gir National Par...