Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal for two days from Friday and launch projects worth nearly Rs 2.50 lakh crore, including oil and gas sector projects worth Rs 1.48 lakh crore, across the country.

Modi will reach Sindri, Dhanbad in Jharkhand on Friday and inaugurate, dedicate and lay the foundation stones of multiple development projects worth Rs 35,700 crore in the State. The projects are related to fertiliser, rail, power, and coal sectors.

In West Bengal, the Prime Minister will participate in a public programme later to launch multiple development projects worth more than Rs 7,200 crore in Arambagh, Hooghly. On Saturday, he will be in Krishnanagar, Nadia district to inaugurate and lay foundation stones of projects worth Rs 15,000 crore.

Modi is also expected to lay the foundation stones of projects worth Rs 21,400 crore. The Begusarai public function in the State will mark a significant event for the energy sector when the PM launches oil and gas projects worth about Rs 1.48 lakh crore.

These projects are spread across states like Bihar, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnataka along with KG Basin. Mr Modi will dedicate ‘First Oil’ from KG Basin to the nation and will flag off the first crude oil tanker from the ONGC Krishna Godavari deepwater project.

The extraction of ‘First Oil’ from KG Basin marks a historic achievement in India’s energy sector, promising to significantly reduce dependence on energy imports. The project also heralds a new era in India’s energy sector, promising to bolster energy security and foster economic resilience.

The Hindustan Urvarak and Rasayan Ltd (HURL) Sindri Fertiliser Plant which the Prime Minister will dedicate at Sindri, Jharkhand, has been developed at a cost of more than Rs 8,900 crore, and brings the country closer to self-sufficiency in the urea sector.

It will add about 12.7 LMT per annum indigenous urea production in the country for the benefit of farmers. This will be the third fertiliser plant to be revived in the country, after the revival of fertiliser plants at Gorakhpur and Ramagundam, dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister in December, 2021 and November, 2022, respectively.

Several rail projects worth more than Rs 17,600 crore will also be inaugurated in Jharkhand. These include 3rd & 4th Line connecting Sone Nagar-Andal; Tori-Shivpur first & second and Biratoli-Shivpur third railway line (part of Tori- Shivpur Project); Mohanpur–Hansdiha new rail line; Dhanbad-Chandrapura rail line, among others.

At Arambagh in West Bengal, the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone and dedicate to the nation multiple developmental projects related to sectors like rail, ports, oil pipeline, LPG supply and wastewater treatment.

He will inaugurate Indian Oil’s 518-km Haldia-Barauni Crude Oil Pipeline developed at a cost of about Rs 2,790 crore. This pipeline passes through Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. The pipeline will supply crude oil to Barauni Refinery, Bongaigaon Refinery and Guwahati Refinery in a safe, cost-efficient, and environment-friendly manner.

Mr Modi will also dedicate to the nation and lay the foundation stone of multiple projects for strengthening of infrastructure at Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata worth about Rs 1,000 crore. The projects whose foundation stone will be laid include reconstruction of Berth No 8 NSD and mechanisation of Berth nos. 7 & 8 NSD of Kolkata Dock System.

Projects for augmentation of the firefighting system at oil jetties of Haldia Dock Complex, Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port will also be dedicated. The newly installed fire-fighting facility is a state-of-the-art fully automated set-up equipped with cutting edge gas and flame sensors, ensuring immediate hazard detection.

The Prime Minister will dedicate to the nation important rail projects worth about Rs 2,680 crore. The projects include the third rail line connecting Jhargram-Salgajhari (90 Kms); doubling of Sondalia–Champapukur rail line (24 Kms); and doubling of Dankuni–Bhattanagar–Baltikuri rail line (9 kms).

These projects will expand rail transport facilities in the region, improve mobility and facilitate seamless service of freight traffic leading to economic and industrial growth in the region.

Indian Oil’s LPG Bottling plant with a capacity of 120 TMTPA will also be inaugurated at Vidyasagar Industrial Park, Kharagpur. Developed at a cost of more than Rs 200 crore, the LPG bottling plant will be the first LPG bottling plant in the region. It will supply LPG to about 14.5 lakh customers in West Bengal.

At Krishnanagar, the Prime Minister will inaugurate, dedicate to the nation and lay the foundation stone of several development projects related to sectors like power, rail and road.

Strengthening the power sector in the country, the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of Raghunathpur Thermal Power Station Phase II (2×660 MW) located at Raghunathpur in Purulia district. This coal based thermal power project of the Damodar Valley Corporation employs highly-efficient super-critical technology. The new plant will be a step towards strengthening the energy security of the country.

Oil and gas sector projects worth about Rs 14,000 crore will also be taken up in Bihar. This includes foundation stone laying of the expansion of the Barauni Refinery with project cost of more than Rs 11,400 crore and inauguration of projects like Grid Infrastructure at Barauni Refinery; Paradip–Haldia–Durgapur LPG Pipeline’s extension to Patna and Muzaffarpur, among others.

Mr Modi will also lay the foundation stone of the Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE), Vishakhapatanam, Andhra Pradesh.

At Aurangabad in Bihar, the Prime Minister will inaugurate, dedicate and lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects worth more than Rs 21,400 crore, including strengthening of National Highways at a cost of Rs 18,100 crores. Mr Modi will dedicate to the nation ‘Bharat Pashudhan’ — a digital database for livestock animals in the country.