Petroleum sector to determine NER’s industrial growth: Union minister

Guwahati: Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday said the petroleum sector will play a crucial role in the Northeast region’s industrial growth.

He said this at the North-East Zonal Conference for PM GatiShakti (PMGS) in Guwahati today organised by the Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry.  The Conference was aimed at bringing together various stakeholders and hasten infrastructure development and adoption of environment-friendly Natural Gas in the region.

He said that oil production from NER is expected to increase by 67% from 4.11 MMT in 2020-21 to 6.85 MMT in the next 4 years. He added that the area under exploration in the region is going to double in the near future, with crude production expected to go up by 45% in 4 years, and gas production by about 90% in the same period. 

With Government of India’s focus to ensure rapid infrastructural development in the North-East India and the region taking strides towards joining the National Gas Grid, the Conference was aimed at bringing together various stakeholders and hastening infrastructure development and adoption of environment-friendly Natural Gas in the region. 

Representatives from various infrastructure Ministries of the Central Government, North-eastern States and other stakeholders also attended the Conference.

Puri said that we will be able to bring synergies between multi-modal transportation, logistics & supply chain, urban development, ports and utilities & services to bring about a transformation in both Ease of Living and Ease of Doing Business.
 Indian goods and services will move on an express lane and Indian industry will be able to match the export capabilities of manufacturing hubs like China, Taiwan and South Korea, he added. “PM GatiShakti will ensure multimodal connectivity. For instance, fresh fruits grown in North East India will swiftly cater to consuming  markets and the Gulf.” he said.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the Prime Minister has brought about a paradigm shift in the development of the country, and PMGS will provide a lot of benefit to the people. 

Sarma said to help Oil India Limited in its smooth functioning, he has urged union minister Hardeep Puri to take steps for allocating some of its shares to Assam government.

 Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Labour & Employment  Rameswar Teli  said that connectivity through roads, rail, pipelines and waterways is an important requirement of development. He said that PM GatiShakti will bring together all the agencies involved in the Teli said that connectivity through roads, rail, pipelines and waterways is an important requirement of development. 

He said that the North east region has always been at the forefront in the area of oil and gas. The exploration, transportation and marketing of oil and gas leads to employment generation as well as skill development. He said that PM GatiShakti will provide balanced development. He said that it is immensely important that states create more awareness about PM GatiShakti.

They should  tap into Information Technology, which will have a greater role on the Scheme, he added. Before the start of the Conference, the dignitaries attended a webinar on the vision of GatiShakti and its convergence with Union Budget 2022, which was addressed by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.  

The Prime Minister said that this year’s budget has set the pace (Gatishakti) of India’s development in the 21st century. This direction of ‘Infrastructure-based development’ will lead to an extraordinary increase in the strength of our economy, creating many new possibilities of employment, he said.

 Underlining the lack of coordination among the stakeholders in the traditional ways of completing projects, the Prime Minister said that this was due to lack of clear information among the various concerned departments. “Due to PM Gatishakti, now everyone will be able to make their plan with complete information. This will also lead to optimum utilization of the country’s resources”, he added.

Minister for Industry & Commerce,  Tripura Manoj Kanti Deb said that the scheme will help in infrastructure development, all types of connectivity as well as doubling of farmers’ income. He said that Tripura is primarily an agriculture-based state, and the improved connectivity through PMGS may help in setting up more industries there. He said that it will benefit every citizen of the country, and provide a new direction to the country. 

Nagaland  Minister for Education, Law, Legislative & Parliamentary Affairs V Kashiho Sangtam said that the PM Gatishakti will help in better exploration of mineral resources of Nagaland. It will lead to ease of doing business and open up new opportunities. Stating that the North eastern states will benefit a lot from it, he said that it will lead to timely completion of projects and incur economic benefits.

Kunga Nima Lepcha from Sikkim said  that Sikkim will make full efforts to benefit from the scheme.PM GatiShakti – National Master Plan for Multi-modal Connectivity is essentially a digital platform to bring 16 Ministries together for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects. Each Ministry and Government department will be able to access information about the ongoing and upcoming projects for a balanced and synchronized approach.

The Prime Minister had launched the PM Gati Shakti – National Master Plan (NMP) for multi-modal connectivity at a function in New Delhi on October 13, 2021. Subsequently, on October 21 , the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved PM GatiShakti National Master Plan including institutional framework for rolling out, implementation, monitoring and support mechanism for providing multi-modal connectivity.

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