IOC to invest Rs 3,150 cr on polypropylene unit

Polypropylene unit coming up at the petrochemical complex will be of 0.7 mn tonne per annum capacity

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) will invest about Rs 3,150 crore for setting up a polypropylene unit in the Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) proposed at Paradip.

“We are likely to get the approval of the board for the polypropylene unit by this month end or next month. The plant is likely to be commissioned by 2017,” said Sidhartha Mitra, executive director (petro chemicals), IOCL.

Mitra was interacting with the media persons on the sidelines of a seminar on Paradip PCPIR, organised by Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers, Bhubaneswar regional chapter, in association with Indian Chemical Council, Mumbai.

The polypropylene unit coming up at the petrochemical complex will be of 0.7 million tonne per annum capacity.

IOCL is the anchor tenant for the PCPIR project that is expected to pull investments worth Rs 2.74 lakh crore.

Peeved at the slow progress of the PCPIR, G Mathvathanan, chairman and managing director (CMD), Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Odisha Limited (IPICOL), said, “The speed of the project is a serious concern for the state government.”

“We are working out the terms and conditions to sign a fresh MoU (memorandum of understanding) with IOCL to expedite things so that PCPIR becomes a reality in the near future,” he added.

Unaware of the state government’s plan to sign a fresh pact, Sanjiv Singh, ED, IOCL Paradip Refinery, said the earlier MoU was for the setting up the refinery which is the anchor tenant for the petrochemical complex. The refinery is already coming up, he said.

Mitra said, the refinery unit will be commissioned by June and the full capacity will be achieved by December this year. So far, about Rs 23,000 crore has been invested in the refinery.

It may be noted that out of expected overall investment figure of Rs 2.74 lakh crore in the PCPIR, the petroleum and petrochemical projects would account for the lion’s share of Rs 2.3 lakh crore followed by housing and allied infrastructure (Rs 23,100 crore), external infrastructure (Rs 13,634 crore) and chemicals & fertilisers and ancillary units (Rs 3,500 crore each). The mega petrochemical complex is likely to create employment for 648,000 people which includes direct employment for 227,000 and indirect employment for 441,000 others.