Modi to unveil infra projects worth over Rs 4,700 cr in Haldia

Kolkata: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate four infrastructure projects worth over Rs 4,700 crore in oil, gas and road sectors at Haldia on February 7. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also been invited to grace the event.

The projects are of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), Gas Authority of India (GAIL) and National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

Modi will lay the foundation stone of the second catalytic dewaxing unit at the Haldia Refinery of IOC. IOC Director (Marketing), Gurmeet Singh, said on Thursday the cost of the unit will be around Rs 1,019 crore and the proposed date of completion is April 2023. The project is expected to save foreign exchange of $185 million.

The Prime Minister will inaugurate a 347-km long Dobhi-Durgapur natural gas pipeline. During the project stage, it generated 15 lakh mandays of employment. The pipeline built by GAIL at a cost of over Rs 2,400 crore is a part of the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project.

ES Ranganathan, Director (Marketing) of GAIL, said the pipeline project would revive HURL Sindri (Jharkhand) fertiliser plant and supply gas to Matix Fertiliser plant at Durgapur. It will also boost the city gas distribution projects in major towns of Bengal, including Purulia, Asansol and Durgapur.

The third project to be unveiled by Modi is the LPG import terminal built by BPCL to cater to the growing demand of LPG in the eastern region. The terminal has been built at a cost of Rs 1,100 crore and the capacity of the project is one million tonne per annum.

RP Singh, the Chief General Manager of NHAI, said the Prime Minister will dedicate a four-lane railway overbridge-cum-flyover at Ranichak, Haldia on NH-41.

The commissioning of the flyover will result in uninterrupted to and fro movement of traffic from Kolaghat to Haldia docks complex and other surrounding areas. It will save travel time of heavy vehicles. The project cost is Rs 190 crore.