India looks at setting up more petrochem complexes

India is waxing a policy to establish 12 more petrochemical complexes in order to have one complex in each 16 refineries, a move which could entail few lakh crore of investment, according to Fertiliser Minister Ananth Kumar during the recent National summit on Indian Chemical Industry organised by Assocham, reports said.

At present, there are four Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) or petrochemical complexes in the country. A PCPIR is usually a delineated area for manufacturing various types of petrochemical compounds. PCPIRs are currently present in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Tamil Nadu.

Meanwhile, Chemicals Secretary Surjit Chaudhary said also in the event that the government was working on a policy to have at least one petrochemical complex in each refinery which could result in an investment of few lakh crore. As per the PCPIR policy, the Centre has to ensure the availability of external physical infrastructure linkages to these regions including rail, road connectivity to national highways, ports, and telecom connectivity.