HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, Feb 24: Union minister of state for petroleum and natural gas, Rameshwar Teli along with chief executive member of the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), Pramod Boro on Saturday laid the foundation stone of the HPCL Petroleum, Oil Lubricants (POL) and LPG depot at Karmadanga in the Chirang district of BTR.
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The Bhoomi Puja for the 20000 KL capacity depot was also performed making the proposed project the first installation of such a project in the northeastern region by HPCL.
The Union minister while speaking on the occasion heralded a new dawn of industrial development in BTR. He mentioned that the project will not only provide multiple employment avenues, but will also facilitate the development of local infrastructure related to road connectivity and other civic amenities.
Pramod Boro while speaking on the occasion said that the frontiers of development in BTR have been opened four years after the signing of the historic BTR Peace Accord 2020, which had paved the way for permanent peace in the region after a prolonged period of unrest of over forty years. While thanking the NDA government at the Centre and the state government led by chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for their constant support to the sustenance of peace and development in BTR, he also acknowledged the local populace of the Chirang district for providing land for this project.
Boro mentioned that with an investment of ₹540 Crores over a sprawling expanse of 78.68 acres, this state-of-the-art, 20440 Kilo Litre capacity, mega project will enhance energy accessibility and foster socio-economic progress in the entire Northeast. The project will also directly cater to the energy needs of Chirang and nearby districts, ensuring continuous LPG availability to 78 distributorships and 9.2 Lakhs customers and will also benefit around 7 lakhs beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY).
The Possession Certificate of more than 200 acres of land for the HPCL POL and LPG depot was ceremonially handed over to the team of top officials from HPCL led by director of marketing, Amit Garg.
Garg informed that shortly a co-operation MoU will be signed between HPCL and BTC administration outlining various provisions for local area development, employment and other areas of cooperation during the construction phase and post-commissioning of the project. The project is expected to commence operations within three years. The authorities of HPCL mentioned that energy securitization and increased outreach of LPG will be ensured after the commissioning of the project.
Rajya Sabha MP Rwngwra Narzary, senior executive members and members of Council Legislative Assembly of BTC and a host of senior dignitaries were present where a public meeting was held to mark the occasion.
In the meanwhile, another strategic MoU was signed on Saturday between the department of industries, BTC and Assam Bio Refinery Private Limited at the NRL Headquarters at Guwahati for setting up a strong bamboo value chain in the five districts of the region. The MoU aims to supporting small bamboo growers (primarily women and youth) into aggregating and forming ‘Bamboo Grower Entities’ across key bamboo growing areas of Bodoland Territorial Region. This will create a new ecosystem benefitting cluster level federations, self-help groups and local level entrepreneurs from all five districts of BTR. The BTC was represented by executive member industries, BTC Reo Reoa Narzihary and joint secretary Pami Brahma, while ABRPL was represented by CEO Himangshu Saikia, head of HR Kashmiri Goswami and a host of other senior officials.
