Inter-ministerial meeting to discuss plan to set up petrochemicals investment region

BIG-TICKET INVESTMENT: Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers, M.K. Alagiri, with Bijoy Chatterjee (right) , Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, at the curtain raiser of India Chem 2010, in Madurai on Saturday. Photo: K. Ganesan

The Centre will hold an inter-ministerial meeting on Tamil Nadu Government's proposal to set up a Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) near Cuddalore on June 14, according to Bijoy Chatterjee, Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals.

Talking to The Hindu here on Saturday, Mr. Chatterjee said that the work on three PCPIRs in the country had taken off and they were in various stages of progress.

Each PCPIR would be a specifically delineated investment region with an area of around 250 square km for establishing manufacturing facilities for domestic and export-led production in petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals, along with associated services and infrastructure.

The State government had proposed one between Cuddalore and Nagapattinam.

“After the inter-ministerial meeting, a high powered committee, under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary, will discuss it by the end of June,” he said.

Stating that the State government had prepared a concept paper for a possible site for PCPIR near Ramanathapuram, Mr. Chatterjee said, “Tamil Nadu will be the only State government that has proposed a second PCPIR, whereas other States have only one.”

The Centre had sought a detailed report on the second project with investment particulars from the State.

Mr. Chatterjee said that Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation had floated tenders to finalise the consultant for preparing the detailed report.

Though Mr. Chatterjee declined to reveal the size of investment proposed in the two projects in Tamil Nadu, he said it would be equivalent to that of the PCPIRs coming up elsewhere in the country.

The estimated investment in the PCPIRs proposed at Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Dahej in Gujarat and Haldia in West Bengal is Rs. 4.80 lakh crore.

“Out of this, Rs.30,000 crore will go for infrastructure development alone,” he said.

While Gujarat Government had allotted land and the second phase of work was going on, West Bengal had notified land for the purpose, he added.

Mr. Chatterjee was here in connection with the curtain raiser for India Chem 2010, the 6{+t}{+h} international exhibition and conference, to be held in Mumbai in October.