Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will visit Karnataka on 6th February, 2023. At around 11:30 AM, Prime Minister will inaugurate India Energy Week 2023 at Bengaluru. Thereafter, at around 3:30 PM, he will dedicate to the nation the HAL helicopter factory at Tumakuru and also lay the foundation stone of various development initiatives.

India Energy Week 2023

Prime Minister will inaugurate the India Energy Week (IEW) 2023 in Bengaluru. Being held from 6th to 8th February, IEW is aimed to  showcase India's rising prowess as an energy transition powerhouse. The event will bring together leaders from the traditional and non-traditional energy industry, governments, and academia to discuss the challenges and opportunities that a responsible energy transition presents. It will see the presence of more than 30 Ministers from across the world. Over 30,000 delegates, 1,000 exhibitors and 500 speakers will gather to discuss the challenges and opportunities of India's energy future. During the programme, Prime Minister will participate in a roundtable interaction with global oil & gas CEOs. He will also launch multiple initiatives in the field of green energy.

The ethanol blending programme has been a key focus areas of the government to achieve Aatmanirbharta in the field of energy. Due to the sustained efforts of the government, ethanol production capacity has seen a six times increase since 2013-14. The achievements in the course of last eight years under under Ethanol Blending Programe & Biofuels Programe have not only augmented India’s energy security but have also resulted in a host of other benefits including reduction of 318 Lakh Metric Tonnes of CO2 emissions and foreign exchange savings of around Rs 54,000 crore. As a result, there has been payment of around Rs 81,800 crore towards ethanol supplies during 2014 to 2022 and transfer of more than Rs 49,000 crore to farmers.

In line with the ethanol blending roadmap, Prime Minister will launch E20 fuel at 84 retail outlets of Oil Marketing Companies in 11 States/UTs. E20 is a blend of 20% ethanol with petrol. The government aims to achieve a complete 20% blending of ethanol by 2025, and oil marketing companies are setting up 2G-3G ethanol plants that will facilitate the progress.

Prime Minister will also flag off the Green Mobility Rally. The rally will witness participation of vehicles running on green energy sources and will help create public awareness for the green fuels.

Prime Minister will launch the uniforms under ‘Unbottled’ initiative of Indian Oil. Guided by the vision of the Prime Minister to phase out single-use plastic, IndianOil has adopted uniforms for retail customer attendants and LPG delivery personnel made from recycled polyester (rPET) & cotton. Each set of uniform of IndianOil’s customer attendant shall support recycling of around 28 used PET bottles. IndianOil is taking this initiative further through ‘Unbottled’ - a brand for sustainable garments, launched for merchandise made from recycled polyester. Under this brand, IndianOil targets to meet the requirement of uniforms for the customer attendants of other Oil Marketing Companies, non-combat uniforms for Army, uniforms/ dresses for Institutions & sales to retail customers.

Prime Minister will also dedicate the twin-cooktop model of the IndianOil’s Indoor Solar Cooking System and flag-off its commercial roll-out. IndianOil had earlier developed an innovative and patented Indoor Solar Cooking System with single cooktop. On the basis of feedback received, twin-cooktop Indoor Solar Cooking system has been designed offering more flexibility and ease to the users. It is a revolutionary indoor solar cooking solution that works on both solar and auxiliary energy sources simultaneously, making it a reliable cooking solution for India.

PM in Tumakuru

In yet another step towards Aatmanirbharta in the defence sector, Prime Minister will dedicate to the nation the HAL Helicopter Factory  in Tumakuru. Its foundation stone was also laid by the Prime Minister in 2016. It is a dedicated new greenfield helicopter factory which will enhance capacity and ecosystem to build helicopters.

This helicopter factory is Asia’s largest helicopter manufacturing facility and will initially produce the Light Utility Helicopters (LUH). LUH is an indigenously designed and developed 3-ton class, single engine multipurpose utility helicopter with unique feature of high manoeuvrability.

The factory will be expanded to manufacture other helicopters such as Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and Indian Multirole Helicopter (IMRH) as well as for repair and overhaul of LCH, LUH, Civil ALH and IMRH in the future. The factory also has the potential for exporting the Civil LUHs in future.

This facility will enable India to meet its entire requirement of helicopters indigenously and will attain the distinction of enabling self-reliance in helicopter design, development and manufacture in India.

The factory will have a manufacturing set up of Industry 4.0 standards.  Over the next 20 years, HAL is planning to produce more than 1000 helicopters in the class of 3-15 tonnes from Tumakuru. This will result in providing employment for around 6000 people in the region.

Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of Tumakuru Industrial Township. Under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme, development of the Industrial Township spread across 8484 acre in three phases in Tumakuru has been taken up as part of Chennai Bengaluru Industrial Corridor.

Prime Minister will lay the foundation stones of two Jal Jeevan Mission projects at Tiptur and Chikkanayakanahalli in Tumakuru. The Tiptur Multi-Village Drinking Water Supply Project will be built at a cost of over Rs 430 crores. The Multi-village water supply scheme to 147 habitations of Chikkanayakanahlli taluk will be built at a cost of around Rs 115 crores. The projects will facilitate provision of clean drinking water for the people of the region.

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DS/ST