Centre keen to make West Bengal business hub: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi onSunday said the Centre is making efforts to make West Bengal apremier trading and business hub through port-led development.Dedicating four projects, including the ambitious 348-km Dobhi-Durgapur natural gas pipeline built by government-owned GAIL, to the nation, Modi said these will make Haldia amajor centre for import and export.Our efforts will be directed towards making the statea premier one in trading and business activity in the country.For this, port-led development is feasible and Haldia willplay an important role in it, he said.Haldia will help the East to become self-reliant inthe energy sector.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi onSunday said the Centre is making efforts to make West Bengal apremier trading and business hub through port-led development.

Dedicating four projects, including the ambitious 348-km Dobhi-Durgapur natural gas pipeline built by government-owned GAIL, to the nation, Modi said these will make Haldia amajor centre for import and export.

''Our efforts will be directed towards making the statea premier one in trading and business activity in the country.

For this, port-led development is feasible and Haldia willplay an important role in it,'' he said.

''Haldia will help the East to become self-reliant inthe energy sector. This will in turn help in the aim of aself-reliant India,'' the prime minister said at a function todedicate the infrastructure projects worth Rs 4,700 crore tothe nation.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was an invitee atthe event, did not turn up. However, TMC MP Dibyendu Adhikari,who has been maintaining distance from the party, attended theprogramme.

The PM said with the inauguration of the Dhobi-Durgapur pipeline, gas connectivity in the eastern region willbe strengthened.

''The four projects (belonging to GAIL, BPCL and NHAI)will help in ease of doing business and living in the east,and make Haldia a major centre for export and import,'' Modisaid.

The expansion of the natural gas pipeline network willalso reduce the cost of natural gas, he said.

''Today, India is the largest consumer of natural gasin Asia. When we got the mandate six years ago, we drew up anagenda to develop the eastern region, which was laggingbehind,'' he said.

The central government, Modi said, has made majorefforts in developing rail, road, airport and portconnectivity.

He said the gas pipeline will bring new enterprisesand prevent closure of the old ones through the extension ofthe PM Urja Ganga project.

''Today, the aim is that of one-nation, one-gas grid.

This will be a big movement. In this Union Budget, we havecreated a mission to get hydrogen as clean fuel,'' the PM said.

Modi said the Dhobi-Durgapur pipeline will benefit thenorth-east, while fertiliser factories at Sindri and Durgapurwill be also supplied with natural gas.

''The LPG import terminal at Haldia with a capacity ofone million tonne per annum by BPCL will help in increasingthe gas coverage in eastern India. One crore more familieswill be supplied LPG under the PM Ujjwala scheme,'' he said.

Modi said when his government came to power in 2014,LPG coverage in West Bengal was 41 per cent, which has nowrisen to 99 per cent.

The dewaxing unit at IOC's Haldia refinery will aid inproduction of base oil of lubes and save foreign exchange,while the ROB-cum-flyover at Ranichak in Haldia by the NHAIwill improve traffic movement to the port, he added.