YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to speed up the petrochemical region in AP

Hyderabad: YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh government has decided to give a push to the Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR). The multi-product investment region will transform the Visakhapatnam-Kakinada zone into a new economy, creating employment and boosting Gross State Domestic Product. The YSRCP government is confident of attracting several units to the PCPIR.

The AP government is finalising a timeline for implementation of the multi-product investment region. The Centre intends to pump in an investment of Rs 2 lakh crore in various projects between Visakhapatnam and Kakinada. A decision has been taken to scout for investors.

The state has already received proposals on two significant projects for PCPIR. With a combined investment of $16 billion, the two projects will act as anchor tenants for the Vizag-Kakinada PCPIR region. As part of the proposals already sent to the AP government, Haldia Petro Chemicals will set up a refinery at an investment of $11.43 billion. As the anchor unit, Haldia will supply the required feedstock. HPCL, in a joint venture with GAIL, will set up a greenfield petrochemical complex. The production capacity of the proposed project will be 1.5 million metric tonnes at an investment of $4.29 billion.

One of the major investments now at an advanced stage of implementation is an expansion of the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) Visakh Refinery. HPCL will be taking up the modernisation project at an investment of Rs 20,928 crore by July 2020. Subsequently, the annual production capacity of Visakh Refinery will go up from 8.33 million tonnes to 15 million tonnes.

PCPIR received a significant setback, as HPCL-GAIL-TOTAL refinery-complex investment plan had been shelved at Atuchutapuram, following which the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) cancelled the allotment of 1,500 acres at the Andhra Pradesh Special Economic Zone (APSEZ).

The Centre has appointed senior Andhra Pradesh bureaucrat Rajat Bhargava as head of a high-level committee to suggest necessary policy initiatives for attracting more investments into the PCPIR in the country.

The Centre had already appointed Bhargava, Principal Secretary at AP Industry and Infrastructure Department, to head a high-level committee on the PCPIR. The committee will recommend policy initiatives and submit a report to the Union Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals.

Bhargava has initiated the process and is holding consultations with Principal Secretaries from Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. He will be discussing with trade bodies, industry chambers and other experts.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government is exploring ways on how to attract investments to the proposed PCPIRs. As part of this, the Centre intends to make investment policy more attractive. Subsequently, the high-level committee has been set up.

The proposed PCPIR will have one or more SEZs, industrial parks, free trade and warehousing zones, export-oriented units (EoUs) and growth centres, duly notified under the relevant central or the state legislation or policy.

Vizag-Kakinada region is one of the four PCPIRs approved by the Centre. The other PCPIRs will come up at Dahej in Gujarat, Paradeep in Odisha, and Cuddalore-Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu.