The Cabinet, on Wednesday, approved the proposal of the Tamil Nadu Government to set up a Petroleum Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts.
PCPIRs have already been approved in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal and Orissa.
According to an official statement , the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the proposal at its meeting headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
A total investment of about Rs.92,160 crore is expected in the Tamil Nadu PCPIR, which includes committed investment of Rs.22,160 crore. It envisages development of physical infrastructure such as roads, rail, air links, ports, water supply, power, desalination plant and CETP (common effluent treatment plant) at a total cost of Rs.13,354 crore.
The PCPIR policy prescribes that infrastructure will be created/upgraded through public-private partnership (PPP) to the extent possible, and Central Government will provide the necessary viability gap funding (VGF). The Tamil Nadu Government has sought central support to the tune of Rs.1,143 crore on account of VGF funding for two road-related projects, CETP and desalination plants and Rs.1,500 crore of direct budgetary support for a rail project.
The project will be in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts in the coastal belt of Cuddalore, Chidambaram, Shirali and Tarangambadi Talukas. It will cover an area of 256.83 sq. km. with a processing area of 104 sq. km. and the balance for non-processing activities.
Nagarjuna Oil Corporation Ltd. (NOCL), a joint venture of Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. (TIDCO) and Nagarjuna Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd. (NFCL), the flagship company of the Nagarjuna Group, has been identified as one of the anchor tenants for the PCPIR.
NOCL is setting up a 6-million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa) refinery project at Cuddalore at a total cost of Rs.9,660 crore. The project activities have commenced, and are likely to be completed by September 2013. NOCL has also finalised in-house configuration mapping for expansion of the refinery by 9 million tonnes , and bringing the total crude processing capacity to 15 million tonnes per annum by 2015-16.
Apart from regular petroleum fuels that are expected from this expansion, NOCL plans to set up a xylene production facility, purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant and a propylene recovery unit. The second anchor tenant is Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (CPCL), which is planning to establish an integrated 15-million tonnes per year capacity refinery-cum-petrochemical complex. It will have a grassroot refinery along with ethylene cracker, downstream derivative units as well as aromatic complex, paraxylene. The project is designed for production of 1.2 mmtpa of ethylene. It envisages an investment of Rs.40,000 crore beyond 2015.
