The State is poised for rapid economic growth in the coming years driven by the Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) between Visakhapatnam and Chennai which started attracting big-ticket investments.
The petroleum and petrochemical set up has thus far been confined to the west coast where several companies have invested huge amounts in their ventures. The accelerated pace at which commitments for investment are pouring in for PCPIR are indicative that the east coast, particularly the State, would soon become a favoured destination for investments.
Kakinada is an immediate gainer as the thrust that Central and the State governments laid on PCPIR resulted in domestic and foreign companies giving commitments relating to huge investments in their ventures. The establishment of a floating storage re-gasification unit, which is a joint venture of A.P Gas Development Corporation, GDF Suez and Shell and a refinery of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, for which the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has recently given the formal nod, is set to change the industrial landscape in the districts on the east coast.
The proposed crude oil refinery in the vicinity of Kakinada will be HPCL’s third one in the country and second in Andhra Pradesh after the facility at Visakhapatnam. Kakinada has a refinery planned by GMR.
Another major project taking shape in the PCPIR is a cavern that can store crude oil at Visakhapatnam. It is being taken up by Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited, a Special Purpose Vehicle owned by Oil Industry Development Board. The port city is already host to a similar facility (storing LPG) of South Asia LPG Company Limited, a joint venture of HPCL and French multinational Total S.A.
According to official sources, the units coming up in PCPIR will not only spur growth of the hinterland by attracting ancillary units and providing cargo to the string of ports under development but also make the much-needed feedstock available to the power plants which hold the key to sustaining industrial growth which will have spin-offs for society at large. “The Central government has given its formal clearance for the refinery project. The process of land allotment is under way. Once the technicalities are completed, we will take up the project on a fast track mode,” an official of the oil and gas major told The Hindu on the condition of anonymity.
