PM Modi unveils Rs 5,400 cr development projects in Bengal

Durgapur (WB): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched development projects worth Rs 5,400 crore in West Bengal, unveiling major initiatives across the oil and gas, power, rail and road sectors aimed at boosting infrastructure, connectivity and clean energy in the region.

Addressing a programme in the industrial town of Durgapur, Modi said the world today is discussing India's resolve to become a developed nation, and the ongoing transformation of the country's infrastructure is a key pillar of that vision.

"Today, the entire world is discussing the resolve for a developed India. Behind this, there are changes visible in India, on which the edifice of a developed India is being built. A major aspect of these changes is India's infrastructure," the prime minister said.

Reiterating his government's vision of 'One Nation, One Gas Grid', Modi said the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project was conceptualised to ensure equitable energy access and spur industrial growth across eastern India.

He said the projects with the mantra 'Make in India, make for the world' will help Bengal's economy to develop further.

"These will create several avenues for employment of the youth," he said.

Modi said all states in the country, including West Bengal, are benefitting from infrastructural facilities like more than four crore pucca houses for the poor, crores of toilets, thousands of kilometres of new roads and highways, new railway lines, airports in small cities and internet connectivity in villages.

"A lot of work has been done for rail connectivity in Bengal, and it is among those states where a large number of Vande Bharat trains are running and the Kolkata Metro is fast expanding," the PM said.

He said new railway lines are being laid, several railway stations are being modernised, and rail over-bridges are being built.

"All these will help ease the lives of the people of Bengal," he said.

The PM said airports in Bengal have been connected with the Udaan scheme, in which more than five lakh passengers have already travelled in the last one year.

"The work that has taken place in the last 10 to 12 years in gas connectivity has not happened earlier," he said, maintaining that in the last decade, LPG connections have reached lakhs of households.

Modi said that in six states in eastern India, gas pipelines are being laid.

"I am happy that the industrial town of Durgapur has become part of the national gas grid," he said.

Modi said this gas supply project will provide cheap gas to 25 to 30 lakh households in Bengal and that it connects the industries in Durgapur and Raghunathpur.

"These factories have now become more efficient in competing with the world," he said.

He asserted that India will become a developed country by 2047.

"Our way forward is empowerment through development, self-reliance through employment and good governance through compassion," he said.

"With these ideals, we will certainly make Bengal the engine of India's growth," the PM added.

As part of the day's events, the PM laid the foundation stone for Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited's Rs 1,950-crore City Gas Distribution project in Bankura and Purulia districts. The project aims to supply piped natural gas (PNG) to households and industries, compressed natural gas (CNG) at retail outlets, and generate employment in the region.

He also dedicated to the nation the Rs 1,190-crore Durgapur-Kolkata section (132 km) of Durgapur-Haldia Natural Gas Pipeline, laid under the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga (PMUG) initiative.

Passing through Purba Bardhaman, Hooghly and Nadia districts, the pipeline is expected to benefit lakhs of people with a steady and clean supply of natural gas.

Continuing the Centre's thrust on clean energy, Modi dedicated Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) systems retrofitted at the Durgapur Steel and Raghunathpur Thermal Power Stations of Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC).

Built at a combined cost of over Rs 1,457 crore, the systems aim to curb industrial emissions and improve air quality in the region.

In the rail sector, the Prime Minister also inaugurated the doubling of the 36-km Purulia-Kotshila rail line, completed at a cost of over Rs 390 crore.