VP Naidu appreciates Odisha BPCL on setting up new LPG bottling plant in Balangir

Venkaiah Naidu sent his best wishes to the people of western Odisha on getting a new LPG bottling plant in Balangir on Friday, December 27. The Vice President was scheduled to catch a flight from Raipur to Balangir in Odisha on Friday to inaugurate an LPG bottling plant, but could not due to ‘inclement weather’ and poor visibility.

Despite waiting for three hours for the weather to clear up, the VP Naidu could not take off. Therefore he chose to conveye his good wishes to the people through an audio message.

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A release from the Vice President's Secretariat said that Naidu was also scheduled to attend the platinum jubilee celebrations of Rajendra College in Balangir. Vice President Naidu expressed his grievances for not being able to meet and greet the people of Odisha on the important occasion. 

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu sent in a voice message which was played at the venue in Balangir which said “I am happy that the new LPG bottling plant has come up in Balangir. It will help women and provide employment to local youths. Though I am unable to reach Bolangir due to inclement weather, I wish the project a great success.”

This new LPG bottling plant has the capacity to cater to around 20 lakh households and filling 42 lakh cylinders per year. Naidu also mentioned the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, acknowledging the progress made in providing LPG connections under the scheme and said that access to clean energy is an integral part of the government's efforts to empower women.

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Ganeshi Lal, the governor of Odisha spoke on the occasion and said, “The new bottling plant by BPCL will fulfill the needs of the people in 14 districts in the western region of the state. The plant is part of the Government of India’s East development policy.”

Other notable attendees of the event were Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister; Arun Kumar Sahoo, Odisha Minister; Sangeeta Singhdeo, Balangir MP; and Narasingha Mishra, a local MLA.

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Dharmendra Pradhan had laid the foundation stone of the plant in May 2018. “Providing clean cooking fuel to the people is our main objective,” he asserted.

Pradhan also added that “As there has been an increase in the consumer base, we felt the need of setting up more LPG bottling plants to meet the demand. The new bottling plant at Balangir is part of the Centres effort to ensure easy availability of gas cylinders.”

Sanjay Sharma, the BPCL state head LPG (Odisha and Jharkhand), said that the Balangir plant is the second operational LPG bottling plant of BPCL in the state after the one in Khordha district. BPCL has 21.59 lakh customers in Odisha, according to officials.

The oil and gas company requires roughly 78 lakh cylinders every year. The increase in consumption is projected at 34% to reach 105 lakh cylinders by the end of 2020.

(With Inputs from ANI)