The BPCL LPG Bottling plant at Balangir, Odisha was dedicated to the nation. With the commissioning of the LPG plant at Balangir people of the region would be supplied with hassle-free cylinders.
The state-of-the-art LPG plant at Balangir was completed within record 19 months, three months ahead of schedule, says an official release.
Ganeshi Lal, Governor, Odisha dedicated the LPG bottling plant to the nation in the absence of Vice President of India Venkiah Naidu, who could not make it up to Balangir due to bad weather.
In an audio message, the Vice President complimented Bharat Petroleum for completing the state-of-the-art LPG plant at Balangir within record 19 months, three months ahead of schedule.
The foundation stone of Balangir LPG Bottling Plant was laid on 21 May 2018 by Dharmendra Pradhan, the then union minister for petroleum and natural gas and skill development, The plant has been completed in a record 19 months period, at a total project cost of Rs103 crore.
Addressing the gathering, Dharmendra Pradhan said there were only 132 million LPG consumers in the country till 2014, and now the number has crossed 270 million, while in Odisha the number has crossed 8 million.
The new plant will benefit 14 districts in the western part of the state. More than 150 trucks will be engaged in supply of LPG cylinders to different parts of the region, generating more than 500 direct and indirect employment. He said the plant will bring economic prosperity to the region. He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his special focus on the development of Balangir which is also an aspirational district.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), a Maharatna PSU under the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, is in the government’s divestment list.
It is not known whether this new LPG Bottling Plant at Balangir is part of the divestment package. BPCL already has a LPG Bottling Plant at Khurda in Odisha. Oil marketing companies are having LPG Bottling Plants at Balasore, Jharsuguda, Khurda and Jatni. In addition to this LPG Bottling Plant at Balangir, OMCs have plans to set up new plants at Khurda and Rayagada.
Odisha will have a total of 7 LPG Bottling Plants once all the new plants are completed. The bottling capacity of these 7 bottling plants will be 40.6 million cylinders per annum.