The derailment of this project that Karnataka was eyeing for long, comes after the top brass in the government felt that the PCPIR, which will require huge tracts of land, may cause a ‘Nandigram' in the state's coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi — the party's stronghold.

A final decision to this effect is likely to be taken in the next cabinet meeting and subsequently, a formal request will be made to the Centre seeking the withdrawal of this project.

"A project of this magnitude requires a huge amount of land. It will disrupt normal life in the two districts and there could be law and order problems. It is for these reasons we plan to request the Centre to take out the PCPIR project," home minister and Udupi district in-charge minister VS Acharya reasoned.

Touted as one of the mega projects in the country's petrochemical sector, the PCPIR was conceived as a specifically delineated investment region with an area of around 300 sq km (covering over 90,000 acres) in the four taluks of Mangalore, Bantwal, Udupi and Karkala on the coastline. According to the blueprint, the project was to be rolled out in three phases between 2008 and 2010.

The PCPIR was to house manufacturing facilities for domestic and export-led production in petrochemicals along with associated services and infrastructure. The project was expected to draw investments to the tune of Rs 2.31 lakh crore. It was estimated to provide direct employment to 230,000 people and indirect employment to 430,000 people.

The project, which was to come near Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL), was going to include the Mangalore special economic zone (SEZ), New Mangalore port and Mangalore airport.

The Karnataka government, which had to compete with Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal for the PCPIR, managed to get a green signal from the Centre only last month. The Centre suggested the state to launch a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to oversee the project by expediting land acquisition.

The BJP which has come to power for the first time in the state, does not want to get its arithmetics wrong.

"Ever since we came to power in the state, we have been spending sleepless nights because of the farmers' unrest over shortage of fertilisers and resentment among the middle-class over rising prices. Parliamentary elections are approaching and if we now talk about taking away people's land, it is like shooting ourselves in the foot," a senior BJP leader close to Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa and party's state president DV Sadananda Gowda said.

The PCPIR is turning to be a cause for concern for the BJP as the project is scheduled to come up in a region where the party is struggling hard to consolidate its vote-base.

Pointing to the results of the recently concluded assembly elections, the BJP leader said: "In Dakshina Kannada district where the PCPIR is supposed to be located, we managed to win only four out of the eight seats. Popular outrage against the project will only mar our harvest at the hustings. So, our priority is to reassure people that their lives will not be jeopardised."