The Orissa government hopes to get a call soon from the Union government to make a presentation regarding the proposed Petroleum, Chemicals and Petro-Chemical Investment Region (PCPIR) at Paradeep.
The Union government asked for some improvement in the initial proposal submitted by the state government in July this year and a modified proposal was sent to the Union government at the end of August this year.
“We have submitted the revised proposal for PCPIR at Paradeep to the Union government and expect to get a call to present the proposal before the high level committee (HLC) headed by the cabinet secretary in next 2-3 months”, a senior official associated with the process said.
The inter-departmental preparedness for the proposed PCPIR was today reviewed by the chief secretary, Tarun Kanti Mishra.
Sources said, the project will require Rs 4500 crore investment for the development of the required infrastructure in that area, which includes the development of roads, port, airport, hotels, logistic park, townships and other social infrastructure.
While the Orissa government and the Union government will share the cost, most of the infrastructural projects will be taken up in public-private-partnership (PPP) mode.
Stating that Orissa is competing with the states like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka for PCPIR, he said, Orissa enjoys a lot of advantages compared to 5 other states who are in the fray.
While the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) has agreed to be the anchor tenant for the project, the state boasts of a major port at Paradeep, where one single stretch of land measuring about 285 square kilometer is available for the project.
The project will be spread over an area of 250 square kilometres and is expected to attract investment to the tune of Rs 2,75,000 crore.
The housing and the allied construction will require investment of Rs 23,100 crore and external infrastructure like road, logistic park, cargo complex, port and airport will require about Rs 15,275 crore.
But the major chunk of investment, about Rs 2,30,000 crore, will come in the hard core petroleum and petro-chemical sector. The project will be able to generate employment opportunity for more than 2 lakh people when fully commissioned.
Meanwhile, the technical evaluation of the National Highway No 5(A) has been taken up and the Railways have started construction of the Haridaspur-Paradeep patch. There will be a number of freight stations along the way. The infrastructure of the existing villages, which will be in the non-processing area, will also be upgraded. “We are focusing on improving the income and minimising the displacement for the project”, added the official. The state government has already formed a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) named as ‘Paradeep Investment Region Limited’ for the PCPIR project, sources added.
