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PM Modi inaugurates three petroleum sector projects in poll-bound Bihar
- Modi said around ₹21,000 crore have been spent on the 10 large petroleum and gas based projects that are a part of the PM’s package for Bihar
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday dedicated three petroleum sector projects in poll-bound Bihar to the nation.
These projects that will help meet the demand for domestic cooking gas in the state include state-run Indian Oil Corporation’s 193-km long Durgapur-Banka section of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) pipeline that will supply cooking gas for bottling at the new Banka plant in the state.
Apart from the pipeline and the bottling plant at Banka, PM Modi also dedicated state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd’ LPG bottling plant at Harsidhi in East Champaran district through video conferencing, that was also attended by the state’ chief minister Nitish Kumar.
With the critical Bihar state assembly elections on the anvil, there has been a flurry of announcements and inaugurations for and from the state. Last Thursday, PM Modi launched initiatives related to animal husbandry and fisheries in Bihar; including the ₹20,050 crore Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) and the e-Gopala mobile app.
PM Modi said that around ₹21,000 crore have been spent on the 10 large petroleum and gas based projects that are a part of the PM’s package for Bihar.
According to government, the LPG penetration in Bihar has exponentially increased to 76.9% now from 23.5% in 2014. This in turn has also resulted in low kerosene usage in the state that has declined to 2 lakh kilo litre (kl) from 8 lakh kl in 2014.
Modi also spoke about the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) that provides free cooking gas connections to poor families and has been hailed as the NDA government’s version of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). The scheme has become a mainstay of the BJP's political messaging and has increasingly been leveraged to add to the political optics.
Bihar is all set to go for assembly elections in October-November. The Election Commission indicated that the poll process will be completed before the tenure of the legislative Assembly ends on 29 November.
“The projects inaugurated today in Bihar will cater to the growing LPG demand in the state and ensure availability of clean fuel for the people of Bihar,” said Dharmendra Pradhan, petroleum and natural gas minister.
These launches come at a time when the rural and farm economy has been severely hit by the covid-19 pandemic. Woes of Bihar, one of the worst affected states, were exacerbated due to reverse migration. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), including the Janata Dal (United), has been facing tough questions on reverse migration, unemployment, floods, and covid-19 management.
The Bihar assembly elections are significant not just for the incumbent NDA government under chief minister Nitish Kumar who has been a the top post for nearly 15 years now but also for the alliance led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) as it aims to return to power with the Congress and other allies.
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First Published:13 Sep 2020, 04:13 PM IST
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