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G.K. Nair

Most of the opposition to developmental projects is politicised and based on superficial information, though some are genuine.

KOCHI, July 6

WHILE the present State Government is not leaving any stone unturned to attract entrepreneurs, , investments to the State are hard to come by due to opposition from various quarters.

Most of the opposition to developmental projects whether it is power plants, or industrial units, is politicised and based on superficial information, though some are genuine, it is felt.

But opposing a project without studying the pros and cons in depth is disastrous, Mr K.P. Rajan, a senior technocrat told Business Line.

According to him if the Kayamkulam Thermal plant was set up with coal as fuel, as it was planned initially, the State would have got power at cheaper rates.

"There are technologies now available to reduce the pollution to minimum accepted levels from coal-based power plants". But the opposition to it had resulted in the generation of high-cost power now using naphtha, he pointed out.

Setting up of Saurashtra Cement Ltd's proposed clinker grinding and cement packaging unit at Munambam near Kodungallur is also caught in litigation. The latest of the series is the opposition to the mineral sand mining in the Alapuzha district.

Commercial exploitation of the natural resources in a systematic and judicious manner would be for the benefit of the State and its people, said another expert. The previous government had already identified Thottappally in the district to set up a Rs 90-crore synthetic rutile plant in the public sector using indigenous technology, said the expert who was connected with this project.

Such opposition by the greens and the politically motivated sections of society would only deprive the State of investments, he added.

Expansion of the Philips Carbon Black Ltd (PCBL) unit at nearby Karimugal has been shelved. Instead of expanding this unit, the company is understood to have decided to invest around Rs 75 crore for the expansion of its Vadodara plant.

If this money was invested here to raise the capacity of the unit from the present 35,000 tonnes per annum to 70,000 tonnes, that would have not only generated additional employment but also estimated annual revenue of around Rs 10 crore to the State Government and local bodies, reliable sources said.

Representatives of a major US tyre manufacturer who would be entering into a tie-up with the PCBL for its annual carbon black capacity expansion had in fact shown interest in the Karimugal unit. But, the bitter experiences of the latter in recent years, seems to have forced them to move in to Vododara.

On the expansion prospects of its Kerala plant at nearby Karimugal, a senior PCBL official said that the Kerala Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) had only allowed the Kochi plant to operate one production line - limiting the plant capacity to approx 39,000 MT/annum.

The unit meets all the pollution norms of the State and is now one of the most clean and `green' carbon black units operating at a high level of efficiency.

"At the moment, there are no plans to increase the capacity of the unit".

In fact, since KSPCB did not give us permission to run the 2 other lines, one of the lines has already been transferred to Durgapur, he added.

Following an agitation by the environmentalists against the alleged emission of carbon black from the unit, the company had closed down the old two lines and set up a new state of the art third line using the new pulsejet system having a capacity of 39,000 per annum. This had become operational from November 2001, he said.

The capacity of the lines closed down was 42,000 tonnes, per annum and in fact, it was planned earlier to enhance the capacity to 69,000 tonnes.

The company had invested Rs 7.64 crore in the unit for pollution control measures and even after doing so the so-called greens are not satisfied, he pointed out.

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