Modi To Inaugurate Gas Cracker Project in Assam

February 05, 2016 | 12:56 PM | 2 Views
Modi To Inaugurate Assam Gas Cracker Project  niharonline

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Assam Gas Cracker Project on Friday in the northeastern state’s Dibrugarh district, the eighth premier to be associated with a venture envisaged 32 years ago.

Modi is also scheduled to address a public rally at Moran nearby before inaugurating the project, which has come to be known as the “all gas” project for all its missed deadlines and overshot budget.

The petrochemical project, executed by Brahmaputra Crackers and Polymers Ltd (BCPL) will use naphtha and natural gas from Assam’s oilfields to produce ethylene, the feedstock for manufacturing polymers that are basic building blocks of plastics.

Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) has 70% stake in BCPL while Oil India Limited, Numaligarh Refinery Ltd and Assam government have 10% each.

The project was envisaged by Indira Gandhi in 1984 and given a shape by Rajiv Gandhi to be associated with the anti-foreigners agitation-ending Assam Accord of 1985.

Five more PMs between Modi and the Gandhi mother-son duo were involved with the project, as an advertisement issued by the Assam government on Thursday recollected “those days” in an apparent bid to prevent the BJP take all the credit from the Congress.

The ad underlines the failure of Third Front prime ministers HD Deve Gowda (1996-97) and IK Gujral (1997-98) as well as NDA’s Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1998-2004) in kick-starting the project.

“It was only when Dr Manmohan Singh took over as prime minister in 2004 that the detailed feasibility report was prepared… and approvals were given in 2005-06,” the ad issued by the state Department of Industries and Commerce said.

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