Bihar govt nod on land transfer to GAIL for building CNG station

Bihar cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod for transferring 1.5 acres of land to GAIL India for setting up a CNG station at Phulwarisharif in Patna. The land will be transferred to GAIL India on the payment of Rs 46.40 crore, Cabinet Secretariat Department Principal Secretary Sanjay Kumar told reporters. GAIL would be given 1.5 acres from the land belonging to the Bihar State Road Transport Corporation's workshop located at Phulwarisharif, he said. The move would help curb the air pollution of the state capital as CNG enabled vehicles would start plying on city roads, Kumar said.

The capital city, whose air quality has worsened in recent past, topped the Central Pollution Control Board's air quality index on three consecutive days from January 1, 2019. It also sanctioned Rs 8.20 crore for construction of temporary tent city at Kangan Ghat here on the occasion of Guruparv being organised between January 11-13 to celebrate the 352nd birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh, Kumar said. Farmers would be given compensation for their crop damage due to the construction of tent city on their land, he said.

The cabinet also sanctioned Rs 725.97 crore as loan to Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society (PACS) and Vyapar Mandal from Bihar Contingency Fund to ensure the Minimum Support Price to the farmers so that they do not resort to distress selling, the principal secretary said. A total of 13 decisions were taken at today's cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

(With inputs from agencies.)