Rajasthan woos global players to invest in Barmer PCPIR

Eyeing a big play in the petroleum and value-added petrochemicals space, Rajasthan Government lays down a red carpet for the global oil and petrochemical majors to set up operations in the upcoming Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) at Barmer.

A top state government official informed that the first phase of development would see around ₹15,000 crore from top global players.

The State Industries department is in discussions with US major Exxon Mobil Corporation, British-Dutch major Shell, Chinese leader Petro China, Mitsubishi Corporation, Wacker Polymer besides some of the top Indian players including Reliance Group, Vedanta, and SRF Group.

CM to hold virual meeting

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will also hold a virtual discussion on Wednesday with the representatives of over 100 top global players from downstream sector to woo them for investment in PCPIR - being developed in the vicinity of upcoming 9-MTPA refinery-cum-Petrochemicals complex at Pachpadra in Barmer district.

"This PCPIR will be bigger in scale than one at Dahej in Gujarat. So, we will surely get more investments as the project progresses. It will also address the issue of regional imbalance in the State for industrial development," the official informed, requesting not to be named.

The PCPIR is being developed by Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation Limited (RIICO). Simultaneously, the Pachpadra refinery is being jointly developed by HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Limited (HRRL) - a 74:26 JV between HPCL and the Government of Rajasthan with the cost of ₹43,321-crore.

To incentivise the units, Rajasthan Government is offering 25 per cent capital investment subsidy on plant and machinery up to Rs 0.5 crore or 5 per cent interest subsidy for five years up to upto ₹0.25 crore per year. Also, there will be a customised package for projects exceeding Rs 100-core of investments and employing over 200 people.

The companies making polypropylene, LLDPE, HDPE, butadiene, Benzene, and Toluene among other products benefit from the State's logistic and network connectivity through North Indian and ports on the West coast at Kandla, Mundra in Gujarat or JPNT in Maharashtra.

"The government has also started planning the multi-modal logistics hub to streamline logistics. That would take care of industry's requirements to transport goods to anywhere in the country," the official added.

The official informed that RIICO has already started work on PCPIR by acquiring over 290 hectares of land. The e-auctions for the unit plots will begin soon. The necessary infrastructure facilities such as roads, power lines, water lines and other infrastructure development have started.