Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate an LPG pipeline project and bottling plants in Bihar on Sunday as the government pushes its development agenda in the poll-bound state.
Modi will address the launch of Key petroleum projects in Bihar tomorrow at 12 noon.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will also be present on the occasion.
The projects include the Durgapur-Banka section of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur pipeline project and two LPG bottling plants, an official statement said.
This comes as the BJP-led Centre pushes for various development works before model code of conduct comes into effect in Bihar.
Modi is scheduled will launch and inaugurate development works worth over Rs 16,000 crore in the next 10 days in the poll-bound state, a PTI report quoting sources said.
The projects pertain to a number of sectors, including LPG pipeline, LPG bottling plant, sewage treatment plant under Namami Gange, water supply schemes, riverfront development project, new railway line, railway bridge, electrification of various sections, and construction of highways and bridges.
The prime minister will also be interacting with the people of the state during these programmes.
"The total cost of these projects exceed Rs 16,000 crore, thus leveraging public expenditure to act as a major driver of growth in times of COVID-19," a source said.?
Assembly polls are due in Bihar in October-November.
Earlier, the Centre approved a proposal to construct 120 km Munger-Bhagalpur-Tirpety-Kahalgaon concrete road on National Highway 80 in the state.
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said in a tweet earlier this week that Rs 971 crore have been approved for its construction.
This will be a 2-lane road with paved shoulders, which will also be 4-lane wide at certain stretches.
Petroleum projects to be launched on Sunday
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.
IOC's LPG bottling Plant at Banka will help meet cooking gas demand of Bihar.
The bottling plant has been built at an investment of around Rs 131.75 crore to serve the districts of Bhagalpur, Banka, Jamui, Araria, Kishanganj and Katihar in Bihar, along with the districts of Godda, Deoghar, Dumka, Sahibganj, and Pakur in Jharkhand, the statement said.
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.
Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd's (HPCL) 1,20,000 tonnes per annum LPG bottling plant at Harsidhi in East Champaran district has been built at a cost of Rs 136.4 crore.
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.
