Ministry to push gas grid project

Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers MK Azhagiri said he would pursue the southern gas grid project with the Centre to boost industrial development in the state.

Speaking at the Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry 99th annual general meeting, he said, “I assure all steps will be taken through the state government to restore the original project connecting Kakinada with Tuticorin via Chennai once the legal hurdles are removed.”

He also assured that the Southern Petrochemicals Industries Corporation’s Tuticorin fertiliser plant would be reopened soon.

The plant was shut down after the company went into a financial crisis and approached the Corporate Debt Restructuring Cell of the Reserve Bank of India.

This apart, a sick handloom unit at Madurai, which had been shut for several years, would be converted into a granite polishing unit, the minister said. The unit would open in a month and generate employment for 2,000 people.

Azhagiri also said the Essar group would start a business process outsourcing company in Madurai, which would generate employment opportunities for another 2,000 people.