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Tag: Dharmendra Pradhan

  • States like Maharashtra should reduce taxes on fuel to give relief to people, says Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday said states like Maharashtra should reduce taxes on fuel to give relief to consumers and remained non-committal on cutting central taxes.

    “I don’t want to do politics. In Maharashtra, especially Mumbai where they do politics and in that city state taxes are maximum. If they reduce taxes, definitely will give relief to Mumbai people,” he said during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha.

    The Union Finance Minister has already clearly stated why the Centre was not reducing taxes on fuel, he added.

    Pradhan was responding to Shiv Sena leader Anil Desai’s query why the government was increasing percentage of ethanol blending and not taking immediate steps like decreasing taxes on fuel.

    On ethanol blending, the minister said the scheme was launched during the tenure of Atal Bihari Vajpayee but later it was kept aside.

    Now, the current government is giving priority to this programme.

    Earlier, ethanol blending target was 20 per cent till 2030, but later the target year was revised to 2025.

    “For this, distillery and storage facilities need to be enhanced. We are working on this now,” he added.

    Responding to a query if the government plans to revisit Sustainable Alterative Towards Affordable Transportation policy (SATAT) since no projects have been commenced yet, the minister said: “The member’s information on this is not correct. I will provide the details. There is no need to revisit SATAT policy as it was formed in 2018.”

  • Eye on Dalit votebank: Politicians make a beeline for Sant Ravidas temple in Varanasi

    Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: With the UP assembly polls just a year away, the state’s political landscape is bustling with activity and a reflection of this was seen in Varanasi on Saturday when stalwarts of almost all the political parties made a beeline for the Sant Ravidas temple to pay tributes to the Dalit saint on his 644th birth anniversary in a bid to woo the Dalits of Uttar Pradesh.

    Prominent among those who descended on to Varanasi on the occasion were Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who was representing PM Modi, had already been camping in the holy city for the last two days.

    Pradhan was the first one to visit Sant Ravi Das temple to pay his obeisance to the saint in the morning followed by Priyanka, Akhilesh and also Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad ‘Ravan’ later in the day.

    Making a conspicuous bid to woo back her party’s traditional Brahmin-Muslim-Dalit vote bank in Uttar Pradesh, the AICC general secretary has been hopping from one temple to another.

    After bowing at the Dargah, temples and taking a holy dip at the Sangam, the Congress General Secretary drove straight to Guru Ravidas Maharaj’s birthplace, known as Seer Govardhanpur at Begampura, from the airport. She offered prayers at Sant Ravidas temple and sought blessings from Sant Niranjan Das.

    ALSO READ | Priyanka Gandhi targets PM Modi in Mathura, says Lord Krishna will shatter his ego

    It is an annual affair for political leaders to make a beeline for the Sant Ravidas temple in Varanasi to woo Dalits in the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also offered prayers at the temple in 2016.

    In the morning, Union Petroleum, Oil and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan paid obeisance at the temple and sought blessings from Sant Niranjan Das on Saturday. Representing the PM, he told the temple’s Chief Priest that the Central government was planning to renovate and develop the existing temple to give it a grand look.

    The Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also visited the temple to be a part of the celebrations for the first time. However, after having darshan at the temple, the SP chief launched an attack on the UP government saying it had failed on all fronts.

    The BSP chief Mayawati tweeted to pay obeisance to the great saint. She also congratulated his followers on the occasion and advised Central and State governments to follow the path shown by Saint Ravidas for the welfare of people.

  • Petroleum prices will come down as winter ends: Dharmendra Pradhan

    By ANI
    VARANASI: Allaying concerns of people over the upward spiralling of fuel price, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday said the price will decrease as winter season ends.

    “Increase in petroleum price in international market has affected consumers too. Prices will come down a little as winter goes away. It is an international matter, price is high due to increase in demand, it happens in winter. It will come down as the season ends,” Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan

    Petroleum, Natural Gas and Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, in an exclusive interview with ANI, explained why the North-eastern Region (NER) which includes Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim are important for oil and gas sector of the country.

    “The first oil deposits in the country were discovered near the town of Digboi and Duliajan areas of Assam and around 18 per cent of the country’s oil resources are located in the northeast east region (NER). Assam, Arunachal, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura are the areas that are full of oil and gas fields. When the Modi government came in power in 2014 we decided to create an infrastructure of the crude pipeline, gas pipeline, increase our exploration, refining and gas production capacity,” he said earlier.

    Prices of LPG, petrol and diesel have been repeatedly hiked in the country. Opposition parties held protests in different parts of the country over the rise of prices of diesel and petrol.  

  • Modi, not Manmohan, ensured Assam gets its due of oil royalty: Pradhan

    By PTI
    DHEMAJI: Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday said that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who ensured that Assam gets its due of Rs 6,000 crore oil royalty which the earlier Manmohan Singh-led UPA government had failed to give to the state.

    Pradhan, speaking at the function where the prime minister dedicated three projects of his ministry worth Rs 3,222 crore to the nation, said that Singh not only refused to pay the royalty to Gujarat when Modiji was the chief minister but also did not to give it to Assam which he represented in the Rajya Sabha.

    “We can understand his antagonism towards the Modi-led Gujarat government. But why did he deprive the state he represents?” he said.

    In 2014, after Modi became the prime minister, he had offered the royalty to the then Congress regime in Assam but it was refused.

    When the Sarbananda Sonowal-led BJP government took charge, the state got its rightful share of oil royalty, the minister said.

    “Under the guidance of the prime minister since 2014, petroleum and gas projects worth Rs 95,000 crore were approved for Assam, which are under various stages of implementation and we are very grateful to him for championing the development of Eastern India,” he said.

    Holistic development of the Eastern part of the country, including Assam, has been a priority for the prime minister and the government is determined to establish the region as the new growth engine of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, Pradhan said.

    The three projects dedicated to the nation by the prime minister at Silapathar on Monday will lead to accelerated development of Assam and drive further growth in eastern India, he said.

    The prime minister dedicated the Rs 2,600 crore INDMAX Unit at Indian Oils Bongaigaon Refinery, the Rs 49O crore Oil India Limited’s Secondary Tank Farm at Madhuban, Dibrugarh, and a Rs 132 crore Gas Compressor Station at Hebeda Village, in Makum area of Tinsukia.

    The INDMAX unit will involve indigenously developed technology in line with the spirit of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and it will also increase the crude processing capacity of Bongaigaon refinery and enhance the availability of LPG and other clean fuels in the region, he said.

    The Secondary Tank Farm in Madhuban and Gas Compressor Station at Makum will ensure safe, secure and environment- friendly storage of oil and gas, strengthen energy availability and supply security in the region and support India’s transition to a gas-based economy, the minister added.

  • Government to give Rs 1 lakh crore additional income to farmers: Dharmendra Pradhan

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The government will provide Rs 1 lakh crore additional income to farmers that will be generated by converting waste into energy, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

    He said the heap of waste at Ghazipur will also be cleaned soon to create energy.

    “We have started the Gobar Dhan scheme. Cow dung, agriculture waste, city waste, forest waste, the carbon in biomass, everything will be converted into energy.

    In a few days, the heap of waste at Ghazipur will be cleaned up. The energy that we will make from that we are going to give additional income of Rs 1 lakh crore in the accounts of farmers.

    Income of farmers will double from that,” Pradhan said while speaking during a discussion on Motion of Thanks to the President’s address.

    He said the government has come up with a scheme to procure ethanol worth Rs 20,000 crore which will help increase farmer’s income.

    “We have made a scheme for buying 325 crore litre ethanol in 2020-21. We have started buying that will cost Rs 20,000 crore. This will be 8.5 per cent of requirement.

    In the coming days we will take it to 20 per cent,” Pradhan said.

    Attacking the Congress for not bringing a law on minimum support price (MSP) of crops despite being in power for long and yet questioning the present government on this issue, he asserted that the Modi government after coming to power in 2014 has substantially increased the procurement of foodgrains at MSP.

    A legal backing for MSP is one of the demands (besides repeal of the new farm laws) of the farmers protesting at various borders of the national capital for over two months now.

    Eleven rounds of talks between the Centre and farmers’ unions have failed to break the deadlock, though the government has offered concessions including suspension of the farm laws for 18 months.

    “Why MSP law was never brought in the past? Your four generations had got opportunity to rule the country.

    In many states you ruled thinking it was your estate. When did you get a law on MSP?” Pradhan asked the Congress.

    “You question us, where have we given MSP? During your time (2013-14), a total of Rs 97,110 crore was given as MSP to farmers.

    In our time (2020-21), we have given Rs 2.60 lakh crore. You question those working honestly for farmers’ welfare farmers?” he added.

    According to Pradhan, MSP payment made to paddy growers under the Modi government has increased to Rs 1.72 lakh crore this year, from Rs 63,000 crore during previous regime in 2013-14, he said.

    Similarly, MSP payment to wheat growers increased to Rs 75,050 crore now as against Rs 33,874 crore in 2013-14, while support price payment to pulses reached RS 10,500 crore last year as against mere Rs 236 crore in 2013-14, he added.

    Noting that the government has also implemented the Swaminathan report on MSP at 1.5 times of the cost of production, Pradhan asked BJD leader Prasanna Acharya to comment on the issue after reading the report properly.

    Referring to initiatives taken to achieve the target of doubling farmers’ income, the minister said the effort to increase ethanol blending, compressed biogas programmes among others will ensure additional income to farmers.

    The Opposition Congress cannot appreciate such government efforts as it has never done except for hailing its dynasty, he said.

    “Those born with a golden spoon cannot digest when a tea-seller, son of a woman cleaning utensils in other houses for livelihood, takes reins of the government.

    Yes, such people get affected and therefore talk against the government. But the public is watching them,” he added.

    Highlighting measures taken by the government for all sections of the society, Pradhan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a leader is “decisive” and implements programmes that have been promised.

    “Our PM is not a leader who runs away hiding his face. He is a leader who faces challenges head on by taking the entire country together. Therefore, we have been able to defeat COVID,” he said and shared how Kuwait’s new king appreciated India for sending doctors and medical help for coronavirus patients.

  • Vaccination, big chapter in Atmanirbhar Bharat: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan

    By Express News Service
    BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday said that India has demonstrated its prowess to the world in the field of healthcare by launching the largest ever vaccination programme.

    “India under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has added the biggest chapter in ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. This event marked an epoch in the history to be remembered by generations,” Pradhan said.

    Congratulating the Prime Minister for rolling out one of the largest vaccination drive in the world, Pradhan said this is a momentous occasion in the fight against coronavirus. This was possible because of the decisive leadership of the Prime Minister.

    He added that the country has fought the most successful battle against coronavirus and this was possible because of cooperation of the people and undiluted faith in the leadership of Modi. 

    Pradhan also expressed his gratitude to the scientific communities for making the vaccine in record time and the frontline health workers and Covid warriors for their dedication. 

  • Those doubting vaccine efficacy mentally challenged: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan

    By PTI
    SURAT: Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday termed as mentally challenged those opposing the efficacy of coronavirus vaccines made in India.

    Pradhan’s remarks came after some Congress leaders raised doubts on the restricted use approval granted to Bharat Biotechs vaccine while its third phase trial is still underway.

    “Those who have mand buddhi (are mentally challenged) and those who don’t have faith in the scientists and power of India are making such baseless statements,” Pradhan said.

    “These vaccines are a special achievement of Indian companies and our scientists.

    People have welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative.

    Some mentally challenged people will never improve, especially the leadership of the Congress, which finds fault in everything,” Pradhan said.

    Pradhan, who was here to inaugurate the migrant cell of Surat Municipal Corporation, also defended the new farm laws and said they would bring investment into the agriculture sector and allow cultivators to sell produce at market rates.