GUWAHATI: In what appears to be a swipe at the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he would not have gotten the opportunity to inaugurate the Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Ltd (BCPL) plant in Lepatkata, in Assam , had it been completed on time.The gas cracker plant is part of the ‘Assam Accord’ inked in 1985 by All-Assam Students Union and late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.“I should not have got an opportunity to inaugurate this project had this project been completed 25 years back.There would be overall happiness had it come at the right time,” Modi said. “By this time second generation would have reaped benefits for the timely completion of the project.”BCPL is a joint venture company with GAIL as the lead promoter with 70% equity. The other joint venture partners are Oil India Ltd (OIL), Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) and the Assam government, each having 10% equity.Modi said, “In our country, the problem is we cannot think before time, even if we think so, we cannot make a roadmap, then we make announcements and wait for the foundation stone laying.By the time the time project gets completed, everybody forgets it. There is massive cost overrun and economy suffers losses because of the delay. A project with an initial cost of Rs 500 crore ends up with Rs 1,000 crore after it gets completed.”Congress claims that the gas cracker plant is the brainchild of the erstwhile UPA government. The foundation stone for the project was laid by former prime minister Manmohan Singh in 2007.In his speech, Union Fertilizer Minister Ananth Kumar too credited Modi for the completion for the project.Modi said, “It is immaterial who dreams about it, who inaugurated the projects; our aim is to fulfill people’s dreams. I am running a programme where I do video conferencing with chief secretaries, where we discuss lakhs and crores of stalled projects.According to some media reports, several projects have been released from imprisonment by such a move and started witnessing activity. And the gas cracker project is one such project.”Retreating that there cannot be inclusive growth in the country if eastern India is not developed, Modi said, “Development of Northeast India is our priority.We have devised an ‘Act East’ policy, which will connect Northeast India to Myanmar, Sinapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.”The prime minister said the government is working to connect Northeast India with these countries. “We have made the largest ever investment in railways. We feel that due to lack of connectivity, Northeast India has not been able to develop despite being endowed with enormous natural resource.”The petrochemical complex in Lepatkata can produce 220,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) of ethylene and 60,000 tonnes per annum of propylene, with natural gas and Naphtha as feed stock.Modi said the unit is a value addition and will help the government save foreign exchange. “Ancillary units will come up and these will create jobs for locals.”