The government said on Friday it will set up petrochemical complexes around all the 22 refineries in India to help generate one crore jobs, even as it urged industry to rid its overdependence on the state and become competitive.
"The government has decided to establish petrochemical hubs in and around all 22 refineries," Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar said at a seminar here on "Sustainable chemistry."
"This will result in savings as cluster approach can reduce costs. The projects need not be confined only to greenfield projects but also cover brownfield projects already running at various places," he said.
The proposed plan, which is expected to attract major investment and generate one crore jobs, will soon be discussed with Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, he added.
The minister also urged the chemical industry "not to just rely on government incentives but become competitive" in feed stock, procurement of natural gas and production of end-products, towards doubling the sector's growth to $400 billion by 2021.
"The government is a facilitator. We are here to support you. Please don't just rely on incentives. That will be there. Become more competitive," he said.
The government can help by providing common facilities in these clusters, such as infrastructure, effluent plants, testing and trading facilities, which can help in cutting down the cost by 25-30 per cent, he added.
According to the minister, the proposed petrochemical complexes would not just be confined to Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and parts of Tamil Nadu, but would be set up in other states as well.
As per official data the Indian chemicals and petrochemicals industry is growing at the rate of 11-12 per cent and producing output worth $200 billion annually.
--IANS
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