Jharkhand to be steel hub of eastern India, says union minister Dharmendra Pradhan
RANCHI: Union minister of petroleum, natural gas and steel, Dharmendra Pradhan, who launched the supply of domestic Piped Natural Gas (PNG) and two Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations in Ranchi on Friday, said Jharkhand would be a leading state in steel production of eastern India soon and Urja Ganga scheme would give a boost to the sector.
The Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra Natural Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL), popularly known as the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga, is under construction and is likely to complete by 2020. It will cover 551km in Jharkhand covering 362 villages in 12 districts.
“The fuel demand of upcoming Sindri fertiliser plant, Bokaro steel plant and Tata steel plant would be met by the this project. A steel plant is also coming up in Chatra, which will get fuel from the ambitious pipeline project,” Pradhan said.
He said the petroleum ministry would invest Rs 10,000 crore in different petroleum projects in Jharkhand.
In Ranchi, PNG connections were provided to 3,100 houses in Mecon Colony so far and supply of cooking gas was started from Friday, foundation of which was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 25, 2018.
Anamika Singh, who resides at quarter number S-35 of Mecon colony, was the first lucky one who used the cooking gas.
“It is a dream come true for me. Earlier, I knew such facilities are available only in metropolitan cities. I never thought to get such facility here in Ranchi.”
Anamika’s mother in-law Urmila Devi said, “Now, we don’t have to struggle for cylinder every month, as it is no more required.”
Pradhan said the project was launched with around 3,000 households but they have planned to extend it up to 1.5 lakh households out of total five lakh families in Ranchi. Besides, work worth Rs 4,500 crore to supply PNG to 13 districts was going on and Rs 3,000 crore has already been spent, Pradhan said.
“The piped cooking gas will next be launched in Jamshedpur. Besides, 11 more cities such as Bokaro, Hazaribag, Ramgarh, Giridih, Dhanbad, Chatra, Palamu, Saraikela-Kharswan, West Singhbhum and Deoghar would be covered under the city gas distribution project in days to come,” Pradhan said.
Pradhan said two CNG stations at Doranda and Madhuban Vihar (Ormanjhi) were also launched in Ranchi. Over the coming year, 11 more CNG stations would be commissioned in Ranchi to supply CNG to over 75,000 vehicles.
“We have planned to start 200-250 CNG stations across the state in days to come,” Pradhan said.
CNG is not only a cleaner fuel but it is also cheaper than the petrol and diesel, which would help its users to save money. besides, it will also ensure that emissions are kept in check.
“An auto-rickshaw owner can save Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 a month by using CNG, which will help in their children, meeting medical expenses and increase other facilities,” Pradhan said.
Speaking on the occasion, union tribal affairs minister Arjun Munda said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision is to make available the basic facilities at every household so that people could devote their time in nation building.”
Foundations for the ~75-crore GAIL headquarter project and CNG based crematorium at Harmu were also laid on the occasion.