On February 22, 2021, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi visited Assam and West Bengal where he dedicated to the nation important projects of the oil & gas sector in an event organized at Silapathar in Dhemaji, Assam and inaugurated several railway projects in Hooghly, West Bengal.
Following are the details of his visit.
–Visit to Assam:
On the lines of the Purvodaya vision, which envisages Eastern India’s socio-economic growth, the PM of India has launched the following projects worth over Rs 3,300 crore in Assam during an event organised at Silapathar in Dhemaji.
Projects dedicated to the Nation:
INDMAX Unit at Indian Oil’s Bongaigaon Refinery:
PM dedicated INDMAX Unit at Indian Oil’s Bongaigaon Refinery, to increase the Refinery’s crude processing capacity from 2.35 MMTPA (million metric tonnes per annum) to 2.7 MMTPA.
- The technology used at this refinery is developed indigenously by Indian Oil-R&D (Research and Development) to enhance LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) production from 50 TMT (thousand metric tonnes) to 257 TMT and the Motor Spirit (Petrol) production from 210 TMT to 533 TMT.
- It will also have a Dehydration unit with an operating capacity of 10,000 Kilo Litres per day.
PM Dedicated Oil India Limited’s Secondary Tank Farm:
PM dedicated Oil India Limited’s Secondary Tank Farm at Madhuban, Dibrugarh which has been built for safe storage of about 40,000 Kilo Litres of Crude Oil, and the separation of formation water from Wet Crude Oil.The Project costs Rs 490 crore.
Compressor Station at Hebeda Village, Makum, Tinsukia:
Built at a cost Rs 132 Crore, the station comprises 3 Low-Pressure Booster Compressors and 3 High-Pressure Lifter Compressors in order to increase India’s crude oil production capacity by nearly 16500 Metric Tonne per annum.
Inauguration/Foundation stone:
Dhemaji Engineering College: It is built on 276 bighas of land, at the cost of about Rs 45 Crore. It is the seventh Government Engineering College in the state and will offer B.Tech courses in Civil, Mechanical and Computer Science.
Sualkuchi Engineering College: It will be built on 116 bighas of land at a cost of about Rs 55 crore.
–Visit to West Bengal
In the evening of same day, the PM visited West Bengal where he inaugurated the following projects:
Extension of Metro Railway from Noapara to Dakshineswar: This 4.1 KM extension is built with a fully funded by the Central Government outlay of Rs. 464 crore. The PM also flagged off the first service on this stretch.
- This extension will decongest the road traffic and provide easy access to the world famous Kali Temples at Kalighat and Dakshineswar. Also both the newly built stations are provided with modern passenger amenities.
Third line between Kalaikunda and Jhargram: This line has been built over a stretch of 30 km of the 132 km long Kharagpur-Adityapur Third Line Project of South Eastern Railway, which was sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 1312 crores.
- The four stations between Kalaikunda and Jhargram have also been redeveloped to ensure seamless movement of passenger and freight trains on Howrah-Mumbai Trunk route.
Projects dedicated to Nation:
The PM dedicated the following railway projects to ensure better operational fluidity, less journey time and enhanced safety of train operations.
- Doubling of Azimganj to Khargraghat Road section at a project cost of about Rs 240 crore.
- Fourth line between Dankuni and Baruipara (11.28 kms) of Howrah – Bardhaman Chord Line at a project cost of Rs. 195 crores.
- Third line between Rasulpur and Magra (42.42 kms) of Howrah – Bardhaman Main Line, which serves as principal gateway of Kolkata at a cost of Rs. 759 crores.
Recent Related News:
i.On 22nd January 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually addressed the 18th Convocation of the Tezpur University of Assam through video conferencing.
ii.On January 5, 2021, Government of India (GoI), Government of West Bengal (WB)& World Bank signed USD 105 Million Project (approximately INR 767 Crores) for the West Bengal Inland Water Transport, Logistics and Spatial Development Project. The Loan for the project is provided by International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
About Assam:
Tiger Reserve– Manas Tiger Reserve, Nameri Tiger Reserve, Kaziranga Tiger Reserve
Ramsar site– Deepor Beel
About West Bengal:
Chief Minister– Mamata Banerjee
Governor– Jagdeep Dhankhar
