Present on the dais the Governor of West Bengal, Jagdeep Dhankhar ji, my colleagues in the Central Government, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan ji and Debasree Chaudhuri ji, MP Dibyendu Adhikari ji, MLA Tapas Mandal ji, brothers and sisters!

Today is a great opportunity for the entire eastern India, including West Bengal. Today is an important day for East India's connectivity and self-sufficiency in clean fuels. In particular, major projects that empower the gas connectivity of the entire region have been dedicated to the nation today. The four projects that have been dedicated and laid today will improve both the Ease of Living and Ease of Doing Business in many states of eastern India, including West Bengal. These projects will also help in developing Haldia as a modern and large import-export centre in the country.

Friends,

The gas-based economy is the need of India today. The one nation, one gas grid is an important campaign to meet this requirement. For this, the focus is also on expansion of the pipeline network as well as reduction in natural gas prices. Over the years, several major reforms have been undertaken in the oil and gas sector. The result of our efforts is that today India has joined the highest gas consuming countries across Asia. The country has also announced a 'hydrogen mission' for clean and affordable energy, which will empower the clean fuel campaign, in this year’s budget.

Friends,

When the country gave us an opportunity six years ago, we began with a pledge to develop eastern India that was lagging behind in the journey of development. We took a number of steps to build modern facilities for mankind and business in eastern India. Whether it is rails, roads, airports, waterways, ports, work has been done in every sector. The biggest problem in this region was the lack of traditional connectivity and gas connectivity was also a big problem. In the absence of gas, forget about new industries, even old industries were also closing down in eastern India. To address this problem, it was decided to connect eastern India with eastern ports and western ports.

Friends,

The Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga pipeline is going ahead with this target. Today, another major part of the same pipeline has been dedicated to the people. With the 350 kilometre-long Dobhi-Durgapur pipeline, 10 districts of West Bengal as well as Bihar and Jharkhand will be directly benefited. About 11 lakh man days employment have been generated for the people here while building this pipeline. Now that it has been completed, thousands of families in all these districts will be able to access cheaper piped gas in the kitchen and CNG based low pollution vehicles will be able to run. At the same, it will also enable continuous supply of gas for Durgapur and Sindri fertilizer factories. The growth of these two factories will create new employment opportunities and provide adequate and cheaper fertilizer to the farmers. I would urge GAIL and the government of West Bengal to try to complete the Durgapur-Haldia section of Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra pipeline at the earliest.

Friends,

Efforts are on to strengthen the infrastructure of LPG gas in the region along with natural gas. This is important because the coverage of LPG gas in eastern India has increased considerably after the Ujjwala Yojana, which has also increased the demand. Under the Ujjwala Yojana, about 90 lakh sisters and daughters have got free gas connections in West Bengal. These constitute more than 36 lakh ST/SC category women. LPG gas coverage in West Bengal was only 41 per cent in 2014. With the sustained efforts of our government, the coverage of LPG gas in Bengal has now exceeded 99 per cent. Where 41 per cent and where more than 99 per cent! In this Budget, a provision has been made to provide one crore more free gas connections to the poor under the Ujjwala Yojana in the country. The LPG import terminal at Haldia would play an important role in meeting this growing demand. It will help crores of families from West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, UP and the North East. More than two crore people will get gas supplies from this sector, out of which about one crore will be beneficiaries of the Ujjwala Yojana. At the same time, a large number of jobs will be provided to the youth here.

Friends,

As part of our commitment for clean fuel, work on capacity augmentation of BS-6 fuel plant has resumed today. When the second Catalytic-Dewaxing unit at Haldia Refinery will be ready, our dependence on abroad for lube-based oils will also be reduced. It would save the country crores of rupees every year. In fact, today, we are moving towards a situation where we will be able to create export capacity.

Friends,

We are tirelessly working to re-develop West Bengal as the country's key trading and industrial centre. It includes a significant model of Port Lead Development. A number of steps have been taken over the years to modernize the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Trust in Kolkata. It is also important to strengthen the capacity of Haldia's Dock Complex and its connectivity to neighbouring countries. The new flyover that has been built will now improve connectivity. Now the cargo from Haldia to ports will reach in a short time and they will get rid of jams and delays. The Inland Waterway Authority of India is working on a plan to build a multimodal terminal here. With such provisions, Haldia will emerge as a centre of immense energy for the Atmanirbhar Bharat. I congratulate our fellow friend Dharmendra Pradhan ji and his entire team for all these developments, and I am confident that this team will be able to alleviate the sufferings of the common man rapidly in a short time. Finally, once again, my greetings, many best wishes for these facilities to West Bengal and all the states of Eastern India.

Many thanks!

DISCLAIMER: This is the approximate translation of PM’s speech. Original speech was delivered in Hindi.

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DS/VK/AK