PM dedicates three key petroleum projects in poll-bound Bihar to nation

Our Bureau

Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated three key projects of the petroleum sector in Bihar to the nation on Sunday through video conferencing.

Speaking on the occasion, Modi said the special package announced for Bihar, a few years ago, focused much on the State’s infrastructure and had 10 big projects related to petroleum and gas worth ₹21,000 crore. The seventh project of this package is being dedicated to the people of Bihar.

“The projects include the Durgapur-Banka section of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur Pipeline Augmentation Project and two Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) Bottling Plants. They have been commissioned by IndianOil and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited,” an official statement said.

Also speaking at the occasion, Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas, and Steel, Dharmendra Pradhan, said that these projects are a part of the Mission Purvodaya which also envisages expansion of Barauni Refinery with ₹14,000 crore and the work has already commenced.

Pradhan assessed that Bihar will have access to the longest LPG pipeline of the world. Gorakhpur and Muzaffarpur will be connected to this pipeline that will cater to 45 per cent of India’s LPG demand.

Bottling plant

The Durgapur-Banka section of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur Pipeline Augmentation Project is 193-km long and is built by IndianOil. It extends to a new LPG bottling plant at Banka in Bihar.

“Presently, LPG injection can be made in the pipeline system from Paradip Refinery, Haldia Refinery, and IPPL Haldia. On completion of the whole project, the LPG injection facility will also be available from the Paradip Import terminal and Barauni refinery,” the statement said.

The LPG Bottling Plant at Banka, is expected to meet the rising demand for LPG in the State. “This Bottling Plant has been built at an investment of around ₹131.75 crore to serve the districts of Bhagalpur, Banka, Jamui, Araria, Kishanganj & Katihar in Bihar, along with the districts of Godda, Deoghar, Dumka, Sahibganj, and Pakur in Jharkhand. With the LPG storage capacity of 1,800 tonnes and bottling capacity of 40,000 cylinders per day, this plant would generate direct and indirect employment opportunities in Bihar,” the statement said.

Another LPG Plant that was dedicated is at Champaran, Harsidhi. This HPCL’s LPG Bottling Plant has been constructed at a cost of ₹136.4 crore and will cater to the LPG requirement of East Champaran, West Champaran, Muzaffarpur, Siwan, Gopalganj and Sitamarhi districts in Bihar, the statement added.