Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will lay the foundation for the long-pending petrochemicals park here on Tuesday. Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan will preside over the event, according to a press release from the minister’s office.
The petrochemicals park will utilise raw materials from the expanded facility of the Bharat Petroleum Corporation’s Kochi Refinery. The park is being set up under the supervision of Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Kinfra).
The State government had acquired over 481 acres from the public sector Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) for the petrochemicals park. Thirty-three per cent of the land acquired will be utilised to set up a green belt as part of the project. The remaining 229 acres would be allotted for industrial enterprises, the communication added.
A 12-MLD water distribution project, 11/33-kV electricity distribution facility, pollution control establishments, natural gas piped supply from GAIL and a waste treatment facility established by Kerala Enviro Infrastructure Limited (KEIL) will be part of the petrochemicals project. These basic facilities will cost around ₹300 crore and they are to be established in about 30 months.
Propylene, benzene and acrylic acid from the BPCL refinery are the key raw materials that will go into establishing the petrochemical units in the proposed park. Paints, dyes, textiles finishing materials and chemicals for printing are the products expected to come out of the park.
The communication said the process for inviting tenders for building the infrastructure was in its last stages. Kinfra had received 17 enquiries for setting up businesses in the proposed petrochemicals park, the communication added. Letters of intimation will be handed over to the companies concerned at the inauguration.
