[the_ad_placement id=”adsense-in-feed”]
Patna: Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation three key projects related to the petroleum sector in Bihar today via video conferencing. The projects include the Durgapur-Banka section of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur Pipeline Augmentation Project and two LPG Bottling Plants. They have been commissioned by Indian Oil and HPCL, Public Sector Undertakings under the aegis of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said the special package announced for Bihar a few years ago, focused much on the state’s infrastructure. He said the special package given for Bihar had 10 big projects related to petroleum and gas worth Rs 21 thousand crore. Among these today it was the seventh project which was being dedicated to the people of Bihar. He also listed the other six projects which had been completed in the state earlier.
The Prime Minister quoted from the scriptures “सामर्थ्य मूलं स्वातंत्र्यम्, श्रम मूलं वैभवम् ।” meaning strength was the source of freedom and power of labour was the basis of development of any nation. He said there was neither a shortage of power of labour in eastern India, including Bihar, nor this place lacked natural resources and despite this, Bihar and East India remained behind in terms of development for decades and suffered endless delays due to political, economic reasons and other priorities. He said since road connectivity, rail connectivity, air connectivity, internet connectivity were not a priority earlier, gas-based industry and petro-connectivity could not be imagined in Bihar. He said development of gas-based industries was a major challenge in Bihar due to it being a landlocked state and thus lacking resources related to petroleum and gas which are otherwise available in the states adjacent to the sea.
[the_ad_placement id=”content-placement-after-3rd-paragraph”]
The Prime Minister said Gas-based industry and petro-connectivity had a direct impact on people’s lives, on their standard of living and also created millions of new employment opportunities. He said today, when CNG and PNG were reaching many cities in Bihar and Eastern India, people here should get these facilities easily. He said the effort to connect eastern India with Paradip on the eastern seaboard and Kandla on the western seaboard began under the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga Yojana and seven states would be connected through this pipeline, which was about 3000 km long, of which Bihar also had a prominent role. The line from Paradip – Haldia would now be further extended to Patna, Muzaffarpur and the pipeline coming from Kandla which had reached Gorakhpur would also be connected to it. He said when the entire project was ready, it would become one of the longest pipeline projects in the world.
Also read: PM dedicates to the nation three key petroleum projects in Bihar
The Prime Minister said due to these gas pipelines, big bottling plants were being installed in Bihar. Of which two new Bottling Plants had been launched today in Banka and Champaran. Both these plants had a capacity to fill more than 125 million cylinders every year. These plants would meet the LPG requirements of Godda, Deoghar, Dumka, Sahibganj, Pakur districts and some areas of Uttar Pradesh in Jharkhand.
Modi said the fertilizer factory of Barauni, which was closed in the past, will also start working soon after the construction of this gas pipeline.
The Prime Minister said in this period of Corona, millions of cylinders had been provided free of cost to the beneficiaries of the Ujjwala scheme which had benefited millions of poor families. He said there was a time when LPG gas connections in Bihar were a sign of affluent people. People had to make recommendations for each gas connection. “But now this has changed in Bihar due to the Ujjwala scheme, about 1.25 crore poor families of Bihar have been given free gas connection. The gas connection at home has changed the lives of crores of poor in Bihar,” he said.
Describing the youth of the state asthe powerhouse of the country’s talent, he said while on one hand the imprint of Bihar’s labour could be seen in the development of every state, on the other hand today big centers of education were also opening in Bihar. “Now the number of agricultural colleges, medical colleges, engineering colleges is increasing. Now IIT, IIM and IIIT in the state are helping to make the dreams of the youth of Bihar soar,” he said. He lauded the efforts of the State Chief Minister in tripling the number of polytechnic institutions and opening of two large universities, one IIT, one IIM, one NIFT and one National Law Institute in Bihar.
The Prime Minister said Start up India, Mudra Yojana and many such schemes had provided the necessary amount of self-employment to the youth of Bihar. He said today the availability of electricity in cities and villages of Bihar was more than ever. “The modern infrastructure is being built in the power, petroleum and gas sectors, the reforms are being brought in, are making the lives of people easier as well as giving impetus to industries and the economy,” he said.
– globalbihari bureau
[the_ad_placement id=”sidebar-feed”]
