Gujarat and Chemicals Ministry to form joint working group

In a bid to fast track projects related to chemicals industry, Gujarat government and the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilisers will form a joint working group. The decision was taken on December 22, 2014, after Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel met Ananth Kumar, the Minister for Chemicals & Fertilisers, to discuss various projects related to the state in the fields of chemicals, fertilisers and pharmaceuticals.
 
The joint working group will be formed to take forward various projects that are in the pipeline. These include developing a full-fledged campus for the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research (NIPER) at Ahmadabad, to further develop the Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investments Region (PCPIR)/SEZ at Dahej, where the ONGC Petro Additions Limited (OPaL) is already setting up a plant.
 
Gujarat is the only state which exceeded the targeted investments for the PCPIR. During the meeting, it was decided to take forward the project by developing the downstream industries in the plastics sector. The Central Institute for Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET) have been asked by the ministry to solve some of the issues of the plastics industries.
 
Stating that Gujarat had been a leading pharmaceutical producer, Ananth Kumar said, “Further steps are to be taken to expand the industry in this sector. It can also be explored for setting up of an exclusive tech park for medical devices.” The issue of setting up of fertiliser plants in Gujarat under New Investment Policy of the ministry was also discussed during the meeting.