The Ministry of Chemicals has decided to have a national policy for plastic parks, to organise the plastic manufacturing and processing industry.
The “dedicated plastic parks” could form part of the flagship policy of the ministry — Policy Resolution for Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region. States, which do not have special zones for the sector, could earmark land for such parks.
“The objective of the policy is to encourage the competitiveness of the plastic industry by upgrading the quality of the product to meet the end uses of domestic industries and exports. Therefore, it will benefit both the established players in the industry and the first generation entrepreneurs, as long as it has competitive edge. Thus, the policy will not have much financial incentive and is more of a facilitator of infrastructure support for industrial units,” said an official source.
“Currently, the industry is highly fragmented and disorganised. Most units are in the small and medium category. While they are producing and processing plastic, there is no hub where one can source it at one place.”
“On the other hand, there are industries ranging from tooth brush and milk pouches to automobiles and automobile spare parts and accessories which are regularly facing a problem of timely availability of raw material both in basic or processed form. Therefore, such a park will act as a hub for manufacturers of telecom or automobile and other users to source the material,” the official said.
Under the proposed policy, currently in the final approval stage, the central government will invest Rs 40-60 crore for every park to set up infrastructure such as rail, road, port and telecom.
The state government will allocate the land. The developer of the park, which could be a government entity or a public private venture, may be allowed tax holidays under Section 80 I(A) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The policy will also be open for foreign investments within the guidelines of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion guidelines for the petrochemical and chemical industry.
The policy will also lay emphasis on environmental concerns arising from plastic usage by highlighting various end-uses for plastic in its various stages. “The irony with plastic is that if it’s bio-degradable, then it cannot be used for the properties it is desirable. Thus, the only option is to keep using it in various forms,” the source said.
