Andhra PCPIR proposal for Cabinet; 5 seek govt approval

New Delhi, May 27 (UNI) Union Minister for Chemicals, Fertilisers and Steel Ram Vilas Paswan today said six States have sent proposals for setting up 'Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Regions (PCPIRs)', integrated complexes having production facilities and public utilities and the Centre will take a decision on these soon.

The states are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, West Bengal, Orissa and Tamil Nadu.

Of these, the proposal of Andhra Pradesh government has been cleared by a High Powered Committee and it will soon be sent to the Cabinet.

Mr Paswan said the development of these PCPIRs will give a significant boost to the industrialisation of these States and expressed hope that more States will follow soon.

''The purpose is to encourage global scale investment in petroleum, chemicals and petrochemical sectors to accelerate economic growth,'' Mr Paswan told reporters here.

The Andhra Pradesh PCPIR envisages a total investment of Rs 3.43 lakh crore and has a potential of employing 5,25,000 directly.

The Gujarat PCPIR expects to see an investment of Rs 50,000 crore with an employment potential of 1,90,000 directly, while the Karnataka proposal has an investment potential of Rs 2.30 lakh crore and can directly employ 2.03 lakh people.

West Bengal PCPIR envisages Rs 75,000-80,000 crore while employing 2,00,000 people.

Orissa PCPIR has an investment potential of Rs 2,75,375 crore while the Tamil Nadu project has an investment potential of Rs 24,179 crore.

UNI SR PDT KP1626