PM to inaugurate India Energy Week, open HAL's helicopter factory in Karnataka on Feb 6

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Karnataka on Monday to inaugurate 'India Energy Week 2023' in Bengaluru, during which he will launch E20 fuel, a blend of 20 per cent ethanol with petrol, and dedicate to the nation the HAL's helicopter factory in Tumakuru.

He will also lay the foundation stone of various development initiatives during the visit.

This will be Modi's third visit to the poll-bound state in less than a month. The PM had visited Hubballi on January 12 where he inaugurated a national youth festival and staged a massive roadshow, and later on January 19 was in Yadgiri and Kalaburagi districts where he sought to woo voters by showcasing development and social welfare programmes thereby giving the ruling BJP a launchpad in the run-up to the Assembly elections due by April-May.

Modi will inaugurate the India Energy Week (IEW) 2023 in Bengaluru that will be held from February 6-8, aimed to showcase India's rising prowess as an energy transition powerhouse. The event is expected to 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, an official release said.

It will see the presence of more than 30 ministers from across the world, the release said, adding that 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, Modi will participate in a roundtable interaction with global oil and gas CEOs. He will also launch multiple initiatives in the field of green energy. In line with the ethanol blending roadmap, the Prime Minister will launch E20 fuel at 84 retail outlets of oil marketing companies in 11 states/UTs. E20 is a blend of 20 per cent ethanol with petrol, the release said, adding the government aims to achieve a complete 20 per cent blending of ethanol by 2025, and oil marketing companies are setting up 2G-3G ethanol plants that will facilitate the progress.

Modi will also flag off the 'Green Mobility Rally', a rally which will witness participation of vehicles running on green energy sources, and it is expected to help create public awareness for green fuels. The Prime Minister will also be launching the uniforms under 'Unbottled' initiative of Indian Oil. With a vision to phase out single-use plastic, Indian Oil has adopted uniforms for retail customer attendants and LPG delivery personnel made from recycled polyester (rPET) and cotton.

He will also dedicate the twin-cooktop model of Indian Oil's indoor solar cooking system and flag off its commercial roll-out. Later around 3.30 pm, Modi will be in Tumakuru to dedicate to the nation the HAL helicopter factory. Its foundation stone was also laid by the Prime Minister in 2016. It is a dedicated 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). 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. Modi will lay the foundation stone of Tumakuru Industrial Township.

Under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme, development of the industrial township spread across 8,484 acres in three phases in Tumakuru has been taken up as part of Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor. The Prime Minister will lay the foundation stones of two Jal Jeevan Mission projects at Tiptur and Chikkanayakanahalli in Tumakuru.