AP govt revives petrochemical project

Andhra Pradesh government has revived the petroleum, chemicals and petrochemical investment region (PCPIR) project along the Bay of Bengal coast between Visakhapatnam and Kakinada to attract investments to the tune of Rs 2 lakh crore to make the state the largest petrochemical hub of the country. Two big-ticket projects have been lined up as anchors for the PCPIR in Kakinada with an aggregate investment of over USD 15.72 billion.

The state government's industry, infrastructure and investments department has drawn up the VK-PCPIR Master Plan- 2031 to develop industrial clusters, expressway and major transport network, residential townships and knowledge hubs as part of the project. Principal secretary to the department Rajat Bhargava unveiled the Master Plan at the two-day summit on 'Global Chemicals and Petrochemicals Manufacturing Hubs in India' in Mumbai on Monday.

It was the first PCPIR to be approved by the government of India way back in 2009 and was supposed to attract an investment of Rs 3.43 lakh crore and create 12 lakh jobs (5.25 lakh direct and 6.75 lakh indirect) by 2017-18. In May 2008, the state government constituted the PCPIR special development authority to undertake all developmental works and in October 2009 a memorandum of agreement was signed with the Centre for executing the project.

Years of political turmoil till 2014 did not help the project take off while it remained grounded during the TDP rule post-bifurcation. Upon becoming Chief Minister in May this year, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy decided to revive the project that was conceived by his late father Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in 2007.

The PCPIR would be developed in three major zones Visakhapatnam, Nakkapalli and Kakinada spread over a 640 sq km area, a top official said. While the region currently has a mix of petrochemicals, steel, metallurgical, textile and food processing industries, the government plans to bring in non- metallic, mixed and non-polluting industries apart from petroleum refineries.

Haldia Petro Chemicals would set up a refinery in the Kakinada Special Economic Zone with an investment of USD 11.43 billion to serve as the anchor unit with supply of required feedstock. HPCL, in a joint venture with GAIL, would set up a greenfield refinery, a 1.5-million metric tonne per annum petrochemical complex in Kakinada with an investment of USD 4.29 billion.

About 6,750 hectares of land is available for industrial operations in the KSEZ, out of a total 9,120 Ha of allottable land available in the Kakinada region for establishment of petrochemical downstream industries. As part of the VK-PCPIR Master Plan, a dedicated Expressway would be developed to connect Kakinada to markets in and outside the PCPIR.

The state government expects that the development of Vizag-Chennai Industrial Corridor would further boost industrial growth in Kakinada and create lakhs of jobs. HPCL, which currently has a refinery at Visakhapatnam with an 8.33 MMTPA capacity, would expand it to 15 MMPTA.

It would also set up a hydrocracker unit with a capacity of 3.053 MMTPA as part of the Visakha Refinery Modernisation Project (VRMP). An olefins and aromatics complex is also proposed at APSEZ in Visakhapatnam..

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