The Hindu Business Line : AP prime contender for Centre's petroleum project

Project details
The Andhra Pradesh Government had already signed MoUs with HPCL and ONGC to act as anchor clients to the proposed project.
The project could involve an initial investment of $3-5 billion.

Hyderabad May 23 Andhra Pradesh has turned out to be one of the prime contenders for the proposed Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Regions (PCPIR) being envisaged by the Central Government.

In a recent meeting held at New Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat emerged as strong contenders for the PCPIRs and in all probability the State Government may get the nod from the Centre for setting up PCPIR in the current financial year, according to an official of the Department of Industries, Andhra Pradesh.

A PCPIR would be a specifically delineated investment region with an area of around 250 sq km planned for establishment of manufacturing facilities for domestic and export-led production in petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals along with associated services and infrastructure.

Land in possession

"In a meeting held in the first week of this month in New Delhi, we had intimated to the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers that the State already had 100 sq km of land in its possession in Vizag-Kakinada and Rajahmundry belt," Mr Raveen K. Reddy, Additional Secretary, Department of Industries, told Business Line.

Andhra Pradesh was the only State to have the land in the possession apart from Gujarat. "Though there is competition from Orissa (Paradeep cluster) and Karnataka, in view of the available land and tie-ups with major anchor clients, Andhra Pradesh stands a better chance. Maharastra was not showing much interest may be due to problems related to land acquisition," Mr Reddy said.

Further, considerable presence of chemical industries, a good coastline and reserves of petroleum and natural gas in Krishna-Godavari basin could also act in favour of the State in wining the project.

MoUs

The State Government had already signed MoUs with HPCL and ONGC to act as anchor clients to the proposed project, he added. The project could involve an initial investment of $3-5 billion, he added.

A PCPIR would have a refinery/petrochemical feedstock company as anchor client.

The internal infrastructure of the region would be built and managed by a developer, while the external linkages would be taken care of by the Union and State Governments. "The State Government may also notify an additional package of incentives for the development of the PCPIR," the official added.

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