The Hindu Business Line : Bengal plans petroleum zone

Controversies notwithstanding, the West Bengal Government is making steady progress towards setting up a Petroleum Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) centring around Haldia.

The State is now banking on development through reclamation of the nearly uninhabited Nayachar Island to meet the targeted minimum land requirement of 250 sq km.

An expert committee will soon be in place to guide the State Government on the project.

According to sources, in its application to the Centre submitted recently, the State has proposed to delineate a total area of 164 sq km comprising the mainland segment of Haldia and adjacent Nayachar Island in Purba Medinipur district. The area includes 100 sq km for processing activity (including the existing industrial areas of Haldia and a part of Nayachar Island) and 64 sq km for non-processing operations.

Island development

“The balance non-processing area of around 86 sq km, as required by the PCPIR policy will be located on the island, which will be developed through reclamation and suitable protection works,” a State fact-sheet has proposed.

While the State is yet to receive approval from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests for launching a detailed environment impact study, the State Environment Department has suggested that it is possible to develop the island (for industrial activity) through reclamation without flouting the Coastal Regulation Zone Act.

During the last decade Haldia has attracted a series of investments in petroleum, chemical and petrochemical sectors. By proposing a PCPIR, the State Government is not only trying to make the region a defined hub of such industries but is also trying to speed up physical infrastructure development.

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