Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a dig at the UPA government for the failure to implement the Assam Gas Cracker project on time. He slammed the culture of delay in adhering to the timeline of any project. Inaugurating the Rs 35,000 cr. , 15 million metric tonnes per annum(MMTPA) oil refinery of the IOL at Paradeep, Modi harped on the same theme. He said he would have been happy if the project had been completed 15 years ago. Such delays made the projects expensive and the fault lies with bureaucrats and policy makers. If the projects are implemented on time, people get the benefit on time. The Paradeep refinery was planned in the 1990s by the Odisha Congress State Government. The PM ensured that the new refinery would enable rural households in the country to cook without firewood or coal. The smoke inhaled from such cooking is injurious. Modi said Odisha had added 11 lakh new LPG connections within a year since Dharmendra Pradhan became the petroleum minister. He emphasized the need for energy sufficiency and less dependence on crude oil. He has asked for import of crude oil to be reduced by 10 percent by 2022. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik thanked farmers for agreeing to leave their land for the refinery project.
It is obvious that the Prime Minister is taking sides on the eve of the assembly elections. The litany of accusations against the UPA government’s work in the past is expected to have an adverse impact on its results in the assembly polls a few months later. But the proof of the PM’s claims will depend on the NDA government’s performance during its tenure this time.