P Raghavendra Rao, Secretary of the Union Chemicals and Petrochemicals Department, said the amended policy for Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Industrial Region (PCPIR) would be investor-friendly. The amendments are under consultation.

According to him, the existing policy prepared in 2007 has grey areas on provision of necessary services and infrastructure, which had affected its implementation. The Centre had approved four PCPIRs in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Tamil Nadu. Except for one in Gujarat, the rest had failed to take off.

Talking to newspersons on the sidelines of a road show for India Chem 2018 on Thursday evening, Rao said while the policy outlined creation of a delineated investment region spreading over a vast 250 sq km, there is little clarity on creation of necessary infra, such as product and feedstock pipelines, or provision of services.

“For example, facilities in a PCPIR would require steam. So someone has to generate it for common use. Similarly, there should be a desalination plant (for using sea-water) and waste disposal service providers. The idea is to create every associated facility ready for investment in the core manufacturing,” Rao said.

Availability of natural gas-based feedstock (like propylene, xylene) for the downstream sector is a concern that the department was grappling with. Rao said various ways are under consideration, including creation of a framework that would allow investors to set up facilities in Africa for production of feedstock.

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