The Centre has committed to revive the Barauni fertiliser unit and get it functional at the earliest.
The government is now holding consultations on whether a public service undertaking or open bidding to invite private investment would be the feasible option.
Union fertiliser minister Ananth Kumar, in a meeting with former Bihar deputy chief minister and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, said the Centre aimed to make the country self-sufficient in urea production and reopening the closed units was among its priorities.
“The Hindustan Fertiliser Corporation Ltd (HFCL) plant at Barauni is very much on the government’s agenda as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make India self-reliant in fertiliser production. Talks are on with corporations such as IFFCO and other co-operative units. We will soon get it reopened so that long-pending demands of the state are fulfilled and employment opportunities are generated,” the minister is believed to have told Modi.
Modi said Bihar was looking at the Centre with hope and old, sick factories and units ought to be re-energised soon. “The Union minister said National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research would be started in Hajipur at an estimated cost of Rs 160 crore if the state government provides 100 acres as promised. Apart from that, Bihar could also see the opening of the eighth plastic park — a cluster of plastic manufacturing factories — at an investment of over Rs 40 crore for providing basic infrastructu- re needed for such units provided the government makes land available. We are pushing for all of them for industrial development of the state,” Modi said after the meeting.
Modi also demanded that the allotment of urea for the state be increased following which the minister sanctioned 10,000 metric tonnes more than the usual quota of 1.8 lakh metric tonne for September.
He also said following the PM’s recent announcement, Gas Authority of India Ltd has announced that work is set to start on the 2,050-km Jagdishpur-Phulpur-Haldia natural gas pipeline at an investment of Rs 10,000 crore, which will serve as the Energy Highway to carry the efficient and environment-friendly fuel to Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.
The pipeline is expected to benefit millions of people in the four states and lead to the setting up of city gas networks in Varanasi, Allahabad, Patna, Gaya, Chhapra, Siwan, Gopalganj, Muzaffarpur, Bettiah, Bhagalpur, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Asansol, Durgapur and Calcutta.
