Centre to clear two PCPIR projects this year: Official

Hyderabad, Jul 11 (UNI) At least two to three Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) projects, submitted by the State Governments, would be cleared during this financial year, if every thing goes well, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals Secretary VS Sampath said today.

Speaking to newspersons here, Mr Sampath said the PCPIR project proposal, submitted by the Andhra Pradesh Government, envisaging Rs 3.43 lakh worth investment, was almost in last mile stage and in fact, the state was in the forefront in submitting the proposals, including the requirements to set up the PCPIR project to the Centre.

While Karnataka's proposal with Rs 2.30 lakh crore investments was more or less ready, Gujarat's proposal was also ready in all respects, he added. The West Bengal's proposal was merely ready while Tamil Nadu's proposal was in a fairly initial stage.

He further said the Centre was committed to clear tw to three proposals during this year at any cost.

All the proposals would be sent to the high-powered comittee for their consideration. The Committee would take the final decision after meeting the respective State Government representatives.

Stating that the Centre had set target to double the per capita use of polymers, as against the national average of five kg in the next five years, the official said the country required four to five million tonnes of additional Ethelene to meet the target.

Earlier, participating in the curtain-raiser of 'Industry Meet' organised on the occasion of 'INDIACHEM- 2008 at Mumbai in October, Mr Sampath stressed the need to develop infrastructure facilities and to provide quality power at internationally competitive prices to attract more investments in Chemical Industry in the States.

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