Approval for Paradeep PCPIR this week

Orissa is likely to receive the ‘in principle approval’ for establishment of a Petroleum, Chemicals and Petro-Chemical Investment Region (PCPIR) at Paradeep this week. The state government has already complied with the queries raised by different Union ministries in this regard.

After Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal, Orissa would be the fourth state to receive the approval for this prestigious project.

“The cabinet secretary has convened a meeting on Friday in New Delhi and we hope to get the “in principle” approval for PCPIR at Paradeep”, chief secretary Tarunkanti Mishra said.

Sources said, some ministries of the Union government had sent queries to the Orissa government pertaining to expansion of national highway 5 (A), sanction of additional railway lines (Haridaspur-Paradeep patch) and capacity expansion of Paradeep Port among others.

It may be noted, the Union government had asked for improvement in the initial proposal submitted by the state in July last year and a modified proposal was sent to the Union government in August, 2009.

Sources said, the project will require Rs 4,500 crore investment for the development of the required infrastructure in that area. Though the Orissa government and the Union government will share the cost, most of the infrastructure projects will be taken up in public-private-partnership (PPP) mode.

The public sector Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) has agreed to be the anchor tenant for the project. The fact that there is a major port at Paradeep and about 285 square kilometer land is available in the vicinity of the port in single stretch has worked to the advantage of the state in bagging the project.

The project will be spread over an area of 250 square kilometers and is expected to attract investment to the tune of Rs 2, 75, 000 crore. The housing and allied construction will cost about Rs 23,100 crore. Similarly, external infrastructure like roads, logistic park, cargo complex, port and airport will require investment of Rs 15,275 crore.

But the major chunk of the investment, to the tune of Rs 2, 30, 000 crore, will be in the core petroleum and petro-chemical area. The project is expected to generate employment opportunity for more than 2 lakh people when fully commissioned, sources added.