By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan attended the Odisha Investors Summit held in New Delhi on Tuesday. During the meeting, important Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Odisha government and industrial players in the energy sector, and Shri Pradhan said that this agreement will make Odisha a major energy hub for the world.
In the presence of the Union Minister, MoUs were signed between the Odisha Government and IOCL for a mega dual feed cracker (DFC) and its downstream unit worth Rs 58,042 crore at Paradip, while MoUs were signed between the Odisha Government and Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Limited for a crude oil storage facility at Chandikhol in Jajpur at a cost of Rs 8,743 crore and an LNG terminal at Gopalpur at a cost of Rs 2,306 crore with Odisha and Petronet LNG Terminal. The Union Minister thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri for this.
Shri Pradhan said that Indian Oil’s Paradip Oil Refinery is the contribution of former Prime Minister Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Odisha. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi while Vajpayeeji gave his auspicious words. At that time, there was a plan to produce petrochemical products along with petroleum products here. The Odisha government has created a new hope and direction with the guarantee of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Prime Minister Modi is clearly aware of the potential of Odisha and the Central and State Governments are working together to realize this potential. A multi-stakeholder cooperative approach will take Odisha’s development to new heights.
Speaking on today’s MoU, Shri Pradhan said, “The planned mega investment will usher in a new era in Odisha’s growth journey. Odisha will become a major powerhouse for the world. This new investment will boost the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the state and enable more and more Odia youth to become entrepreneurs. These steps are a clear reflection of the Double Engine Government’s promise. The mega dual feed cracker and its downstream unit will reduce dependence on import of petrochemicals and strengthen India’s petrochemicals industry. This project will accelerate the progress of Paradeep Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals investment sector.
With the current SPR of 5.33 MMT (Million Metric Tonnes) capacity, we are able to meet India’s crude oil requirement of 9.5 days. The establishment of 4 MMT Strategic Petroleum Reserve at Chandigarh will increase the country’s crude oil requirement by an additional 4 days. India will meet its total crude oil requirement of about 17 days. Similarly, India currently has 7 operational LNG terminals with an operational re-gasification capacity of about 47.7 MMTPA. This will be the third LNG terminal on the east coast after Ennore in Tamil Nadu and now Gopalpur in Odisha. The establishment of the LNG terminal will serve the entire eastern India for energy availability and enhance energy security.
Shri Pradhan said that due to his intervention in 2017, the Odisha government has received about Rs 3000 crore as VAT or sales tax from IOCL to the exchequer between November 2015 and July 2017. Due to his efforts, IOCL Paradip Refinery is contributing about Rs 6,000 crore to the exchequer of Odisha alone and about Rs 27,000 crore to the exchequer of Odisha and the Government of India every year. While LPG connections in Odisha were 21 lakh before 2014, now the number of LPG connections in the state has increased to 1 crore 4 thousand and the number of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala beneficiaries has reached 55 lakh.
Strengthening the economy of Odisha, creating wealth, creating new employment opportunities and encouraging a new generation of entrepreneurs in Odisha is our priority. Prime Minister Modi’s guarantee and CM Mohan Majhi’s leadership will support all investors. With an investment of more than Rs 2 lakh 4 thousand crores in the petroleum sector in the last decade, Odisha is set to become one of the important centers of energy transformation in the world. Shri Pradhan has requested Chief Minister Majhi to bring a new biogas policy to accelerate the Swachh Bharat movement.
