PM Modi inaugurates 3 key petroleum projects in Bihar,

14 Sept. 20-Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Bihar’s administration has been exemplary in making sure that government schemes reach the common people.He said, “In the last 15 years Bihar has shown that if the right government is elected in a state, benefits of government’s schemes can reach its people.”

PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the three petroleum sector projects in Bihar which cost more than Rs 900 crores. The projects include the Durgapur-Banka section of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur Pipeline Augmentation Project and two Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) Bottling Plants in Banka and Champaran, according to news agency PTI.

The 193-km long Durgapur-Banka pipeline section, built by state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC), is a part of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur Pipeline Augmentation Project, for which the foundation stone was laid by the Prime Minister on February 17, 2019.

Durgapur-Banka section is the extension of the existing 679-km long Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur LPG pipeline to the new LPG bottling plant at Banka in Bihar.The pipeline of 14-inch diameter passes through West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar.

While LPG is presently injected into the pipeline at IOC’s Paradip and Haldia refineries, the completion of the whole project would enable the facility to be also available from the Paradip import terminal and Barauni refinery.

These two LPG plants will be able to fill gas cylinders for several districts not only from Bihar but also for Jharkhand and few districts of Uttar Pradesh as well, Narendra Modi said.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Bihar deputy CM Sushil K Modi were among those who were present in the virtual inauguration ceremony.PM said that the Centre has worked extensively in developing all energy related projects in the state.

He said, “We do not live in the age where one generation saw the inauguration of a project and another generation saw its completion. New India and new Bihar believes in fast-paced development.” He further added that the age when someone owned a gas connection was considered a bigwig is now a thing of the past.

He also highlighted that Centre’s schemes like Ujjwala has also empowered women and made sure that they do not spend hours collecting firewood which would later when burnt to cook would also cause respiratory ailments.

PM said eastern India and Bihar’s infrastructure was never prioritised. He further said that earlier people never imagined that they could get access to developed infrastructure because there were economic and political issues to which no one paid attention to despite the fact that the region is teeming with natural as well as human resources.

PM Modi specially thanked people who delivered gas cylinders to common people’s homes amid the Covid-19 pandemic while inaugurating the scheme.PM Modi lauded Nitish Kumar, Bihar chief minister, for pushing Bihar’s youth and ensuring that the state’s education system nurtures talents.

He said, “You can look at any sector in India – education, income tax, labour or healthcare. The contribution of Bihar in every sector is clearly visible. Bihar has assisted India in its growth.”

This plant has been constructed on 29 acres of land and its foundation stone was laid by the Prime Minister on April 10, 2018.The bottling plant will cater to the LPG requirement of East Champaran, West Champaran, Muzaffarpur, Siwan, Gopalganj and Sitamarhi districts in Bihar, it added.