“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that Odisha will be the gateway of development for eastern India and sanctioned various developmental projects but the state government deliberately stalled them
Dharmendra Pradhan,
Union Petroleum Minister
Bhubaneswar: Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan Saturday slammed the Naveen Patnaik government for not cooperating in the implementation of several central projects worth over Rs 1,36,417 crore.
Addressing the media here, Pradhan said projects to the tune of Rs 51,395 crore under petroleum and natural gas, Road, Transport and Highway projects worth over Rs 56,563 crore, Rs 12,286 crore railway projects and non-petroleum investment of Rs 15,413 crore are pending due to apathetic attitude of the state government.
The Union minister said the centre had written as many as 62 letters since 2017 to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik seeking the government’s support to implement the projects but there has been no response.
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that Odisha will be the gateway of development for the eastern India and accordingly sanctioned various developmental projects but the state government deliberately stalled them.
Pradhan said he had invited the state Chief secretary A P Padhi today (Saturday) for a discussion on the progress of various central projects in the state but the Chief Secretary did not turn up for the meeting.
He said the Odisha government has also some responsibility in the implementation of the central projects in the state but the BJD government is not giving due importance to the central projects which would have brought industrialisation and generate employment opportunities.
Pradhan regretted that the state government is not providing the necessary support for the expansion of Paradip refinery project from 15 MTPA to 25 MTPA which has emerged as the energy Gateway of eastern India.
Similarly, the CPC Taiwan has shown interest for an investment of Rs 43,000 crore in petrochemical sector after Paradip refinery expansion but the proposal is pending as there is no support from the state government in providing land, water, electricity to the project which could have provided a great boost to the plastic and textile sector of Odisha.