Centre keen to set up PCPIR project in Maharashtra: Ahir

The Centre is keen to set up a Petroleum Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) project in Maharashtra, which has the potential to attract huge investments, Union Minister of State for Chemical and Fertilisers Hansraj Ahir said here today.
"We are looking at possibilities of setting up a PCPIR in coastal Maharashtra in line with a similar project successfully commissioned at Dahej in Gujarat," Ahir said during the ongoing Make in India Week here.
"The Dahej unit has attracted thousands of chemical units and huge investments. We see that Maharashtra can also attract huge investments in a similar project, if implemented," he said.

In the fertiliser sector, RCF, a government undertaking, is producing urea and is set to complete its expansion plans in Thal III project in Maharashtra, the minister added.
"We need to shift from gas-based urea plant to coal-based one, which will help in bringing down urea production cost by 50 per cent. Maharashtra's Vidarbha region has a lot of coal reserves and we can use it for producing low-cost urea in the country," Ahir said.
According to the minister, China is a major producer of urea using coal.

He also said plastics, a byproduct, has the potential to become the biggest industry owing to lesser consumption in the country compared to its population.

"Indian demand of plastic-based products is 11 million tonnes while the world demand is 275 million tonnes. We have just 4 per cent of the world's demand against 18 per cent of the world's population," Ahir added.
He also emphasised on the importance of research, saying it will ensure the final product will become useful in all sectors including space, besides daily usage.