On September 13, 2020 Prime Minister Narendra Modi Inaugurated 3 key projects of the petroleum sector worth more than Rs 900 crore in Bihar through video conference and dedicated it to the Nation. The projects include the Durgapur-Banka section(about 200 km) of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur Pipeline Augmentation Project and 2 LPG(Liquefied Petroleum Gas) Bottling Plants.
- Of the 2 LPG Bottling plants one plant of the Indian Oil Corporation Limited(IOCL) is launched in Banka and another plant of the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited(HPCL) in Champaran(East), Harsidhi.
- The projects have been commissioned by IOCL and HPCL, Public Sector Undertakings(PSUs) under the aegis of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Key Info
These projects are a part of the Mission Purvodaya which anticipate to expand the Barauni Refinery with Rs 14,000 crore and the work has already commenced.
Note
The special package given for Bihar had 10 big projects related to petroleum and gas worth Rs 21 thousand crore. Among them, the inaugurated project is the 7th one.
LPG penetration in Bihar
- LPG penetration in Bihar has increased to 76.9% now from 23.5% in 2014.
- This in turn has reduced the kerosene consumption in the state from 8 lakh kilo litre (kl) to 2 lakh kl in 2014.
About the 3 Projects
Durgapur-Banka section
i.The Durgapur-Banka pipeline section, built by state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC), is a part of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur Pipeline Augmentation Project. For this, foundation stone was laid by the Prime Minister on February 17, 2019
ii.The entire project will become one of the longest pipeline projects in the world.
LPG Bottling Plant at Banka
i.It has been built at an investment of around Rs 131.75 crore. It will 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.
ii.It has a LPG storage capacity of 1,800 tonnes and bottling capacity of 40,000 cylinders per day.
LPG Bottling Plant at Champaran
i.The 1,20,000 tonnes per annum LPG Bottling Plant and has been constructed at a cost of Rs 136.4 crore.
ii.It has been constructed on 29 acres of land and its foundation stone was laid by the Prime Minister on April 10, 2018.
iii.The 2 LPG Bottling plants have the capacity to fill more than 125 million cylinders annually.
Govt Approved a Rs 971 crore highway project in Bihar
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has approved a proposal to construct a Rs 971 crore 120 km Munger-Bhagalpur-Tirpety-Kahalgaon concrete road on national highway 80 in Bihar.
Significance
i.This road will connect the state government-built bridge at Agvani Ghat of Sultanganj to Khagaria
ii.It serves as the lifeline for the stone supply sector catering to the entire Bihar, Nepal, West Bengal, etc.
Recent Related News:
i.On 25th August 2020, Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways inaugurated and laid foundation stones for 45 highway projects in Madhya Pradesh (MP) during a virtual event. Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh presided over the virtual event. The aim was to complete projects worth Rs 50,000 crore out of Rs 1.25 lakh crore by 2023.
ii.On July 8, 2020 Manipur Chief Minister(CM) N. Biren Singh inaugurated 5 Water Supply projects worth Rs 48.39 crore, which have a total capacity of more than 26.15 millions of liters per day(MLD) through video conferencing from the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, Imphal. With addition to the projects, one office building of Weight and Measures Department and Rapid Antigen Detection Testing Centre at Jiribam were also inaugurated.
About Bihar:
Chief Minister– Nitish Kumar
Governor– Phagu Chauhan
