Patna: Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary, along with industries minister Dilip Jaiswal and JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha, met Union petroleum and natural gas minister Hardeep Singh Puri in Delhi and discussed a range of developmental issues concerning Bihar, including ethanol procurement, expansion of energy infrastructure, gas pipeline projects and other matters of public importance.Samrat said they had a positive and meaningful discussion with the Union minister on the purchase of ethanol from factories in the state.
Jaiswal said ethanol plant owners in Bihar need not worry, as the state delegation had held constructive talks with Union minister Puri.“We met the Union minister today regarding some of the problems being faced by the ethanol factories and their owners in Bihar. There was a very meaningful discussion. Bihar should not lag behind in terms of industry and the ethanol plants will also get an opportunity to move forward,” he said.He added that the state govt stands firmly with industries established in Bihar.Responding to questions in the legislative assembly on Monday, Jaiswal said Bihar had signed an MoU with the Centre for the purchase of 35.28 crore litres of ethanol. Dedicated ethanol units in the state are producing around 1,602km per day, whereas the central govt has fixed a quota of only 1,060 kilolitres per day for Bihar.The minister clarified that reports of ethanol factory closures are false. He said the state govt has urged the Centre to increase Bihar’s ethanol procurement quota.
