Petro-chem complex would be set up in AP this fiscal: Pradhan

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan today said a petro-chemical complex would be set up in Andhra Pradesh with an investment of Rs 35,000 crore during this financial year.
Addressing a public meeting at Vangali near here after Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone for Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE), Pradhan said the foundation stone for the petro-chemical complex will also be laid this fiscal (2016-17).
Though the UPA government mentioned a petro-chemical complex in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, the NDA government took the decision to set up the complex in the region between Visakhapatnam and Kakinada, said the Union Minister.

Capacity of HPCL-VR refinery in Visakhapatnam will be enhanced from 8.5 million tonnes to 15 million tonnes by December 2016 at an investment of Rs 21,000 crore, and there are also plans for pipeline supply of LPG in the state, he said.
Considering the huge gas resources in Krishna Godavari basin in AP, over Rs 60,000 core would be invested in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode in the KG basin for exploration and exploitation of oil and gas, he said.
IIPE would produce top experts in petroleum, oil and gas sectors within four years. The campus spread over 200 acres will be ready in three to four years, Pradhan said.