Guwahati: The state of Assam and the rest of North East India with its rich bio resources could well become the second cradle of Ayurveda in the country after Kerala, said the Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananth Kumar on Saturday while laying the foundation of the country’s eighth National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER).
Kumar informed that construction work of the permanent campus of NIPER, ear Guwahati for would commence immediately at a sprawling site of 89 acres of land provided by Assam government at Silapahar at the outskirt of the city.
“There are seven NIPERs across the country, but none have its own campus barring the one at Mohali. Now, Guwahati NIPER will have a world-class campus,” the minister promised.
The land for the institution was allotted by Assam government way back in 2009 but construction could not be started.Kumar also highlighted the state’s potential to emerge as a ‘second cradle’ for ayurveda, after Kerala, because of its rich biodiversity.
“There is a need for holistic approach for curing lifestyle diseases of present times. Assam and North East can be another cradle of Ayurveda,” he said.
Revamped BVFL unit to export urea: A restructured and revamped fertilizer unit of Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Limited (BVFL) at Namurp in Assam will be able to export urea to Nepal and Bangladesh, besides meeting the entire demand for the fertilizer in North East, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananth Kumar said here.Kumar, who reviewed the present status of the Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Ltd (BVCL) at Namrup here last evening, said the revamped factory will be a world-class one, with doubled production capacity and reduce energy consumption by 50 per cent.
The annual production of urea on the plant after restructuring will be increased from 3.6 lakh metric tons at present to 8.64 lakh metric tons.
“The demand for urea in NE is 4 lakh tons per annum. The excess urea could be exported to Nepal and even Bangladesh,” the Union minister said adding the new technology that would be used in the restructured BVCL would lead to reduction of energy consumption by more than half of the present consumption level.
The minister, however, assured all employees of BVCL that there would be no job cut during the restructuring and revamping process.
The Union Cabinet had recently cleared a much-delayed financial restructuring of BVCL, besides setting up of a new ammonia-urea complex at Namrup on public-private partnership basis.
Kumar, who also reviewed progress of work of the gas cracker project at Dibrugarh, said plastic consumption in the region, which is much less compared to national average at present, will increase once the project becomes functional.
He also said besides providing direct employment to about 1000 youths, another one lakh will get employment in units that will come up as downstream industries of the gas cracker project.
