Kolkata, June 29 -- State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said commercial crude oil extraction at the Ashoknagar oilfield in North 24-Parganas is expected to begin in July, reiterating that Bengal would prosper under a BJP-led double-engine government.
The Ashoknagar oilfield is a petroleum and natural gas extraction site located about 48 km from Kolkata. Discovered by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in 2018, it is the first oil and gas-producing field in eastern India. Estimates say the basin contains reserves of over 240 million barrels of oil.
Bhattacharya said that a new era of industrial growth and generation of employment is set to come in Bengal under the current BJP government. It was learnt that a target has been set to extract commercial crude oil from a field in the Baigachi area of Ashokenagar by the end of July this year. Excavations are going on at other sites like Doulatpur, Bhurkunda, etc. A reserve was also discovered in Nadia's Ranaghat.
Bhattacharya recently met Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman at her Delhi residence and discussed ways to boost Bengal's economy, with particular focus on industrialisation and immediate steps to start production at the Ashoknagar oilfield in North 24-Parganas. Bhattacharya's meeting with the Union Finance Minister assumed significance after Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari had called on both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home minister Amit Shah.
In its election manifesto, the BJP had promised to bring back the state's past glory by boosting industries, securing jobs, and the overall development of the state through the efforts of a "double-engine" government.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.