Radical measures by the government to increase ease of doing business, transfer of FACT land by March next year, natural gas availability at the park site, ample supply of electricity at competitive rates and Bharat Petroleum Corporation’s role as an anchor investor have combined to bring Kochi’s dream of a petrochemicals hub closer to reality.
It was “waiting to happen”, said Additional Chief Secretary (Industries, Commerce and Power) Paul Antony about the petrochemicals hub. He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a petrochemicals investor meet here on Monday, organised jointly by government agencies Kinfra and Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC).
Land availability
He said a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was expected to be signed later this month for acquisition of land from the public sector FACT for the petrochemicals park. The land availability overcomes one of the biggest hindrances to setting up the park.
The government has also appointed a consultant to design the park, which will come up on approximately 400 acres at Ambalamugal, close to BPCL’s Kochi refinery.
The public sector BPCL has acquired around 170 acres for its petrochemicals project on its own from FACT.
The petrochemicals park has been conceived as a self-contained cluster of units with plug and play facilities. Common infrastructure, including effluent treatment facility and seamless logistics, is part of the plan.
The petrochemicals park will utilise five lakh tonnes of propylene from BPCL Kochi Refinery annually. According to the initial plans, the hygiene products cluster on 50 acres is expected to be up and ready in 2019. Speciality chemicals cluster on 250 acres is likely to be up by 2018 and polyurethane and rubber products/components cluster on 50 acres is expected by 2022.
Around 85 acres is also being earmarked for local allied, ancillary and support industries for clusters and consumer products manufacture based on imported or hinterland raw materials.
An oil industry veteran, participating in the petrochemicals investor meet said Kochi’s would be the first such petrochemicals park and most of the products from there would be import substitutes.
