The Karnataka cabinet has approved the proposal for petroleum, chemical and petrochemical investment region (PCPIR) to be developed in Mangalore," N. Yogish Bhat, Chairman, Karnataka State Industrial Investment & Development Corporation, and MLA from Mangalore, told Projectsmonitor.
"KSIIDC, the nodal agency for the project, has submitted a detailed pre-feasibility report to the Union government and is awaiting its approval," Bhat said. "We are likely to get the approval by December-end."
The PCPIR project will be spread on approximately 90,000 acres of land in and around Konaje and Udupi in Dakshina Kannada district of which 7,000 acres will be kept aside as processing area.
L&T and Ramboll Consulting Engineers Ltd have prepared a master plan for 300 sq. km extent of Mangalore PCPIR.
Yogish Bhat remarked that the state had given approval for Mangalore SEZ which is to be developed by Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd on 271 acres, under PCPIR. By November-end, MRPL will finalise the project cost and tenders will be floated accordingly. However, the chairman did not disclose the estimated cost of the two projects.
"The proposed expansion of Mangalore Chemical Fertiliser projects will be part of phase-I of PCPIR (2008-2014) with many industrial projects coming up on about 600 acres. KSIIDC will also deal with the establishment of Mangalore SEZ with feedstock from MRPL," Bhat explained.
Phase-II of PCPIR, expected to be carried out between 2015 and 2020, will envisages the development of a petrochemical and chemical cluster for pharma and fertiliser sectors.
Mangalore, with its infrastructure facilities and links to ports, airports, railway stations, and NH-17 and NH 48, is an ideal location for PCPIR. Of the total area of land needed for the project nearly 22,475 acres have been identified and many villages of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada are being covered in the plan. Out of the total 90,000 acres, over 44,352 acres will be returned to villagers for rehabilitation, reconstruction and other activities.
The Mangalore Port Trust is planning to enhance its cargo handling capacity from 38 million tonnes to 60 million tonnes at a cost of Rs 68.46 crore which will be useful when PCPIR is developed. The MPT is also planning to develop an all-weather port at Padubidri, near Udupi, at a cost of about Rs 700 crore.
The villagers are of the opinion that though most of their land is considered barren, the project will affect environment, pollute groundwater and cause hardships to labourers who cultivable the land. As Mangalore is well-known for cultivation of paddy, betel nut, sugarcane etc., the project will force farmers to give up their land and move elsewhere.
However, Yogish Bhat is confident of winning PCPIR for Mangalore even though four more states have contended for the project. The other states are Gujarat, Orissa, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.
The Union Cabinet had approved the policy for setting up the petroleum, chemical and petrochemical investment region in March this year (see Projectsmonitor, March 19, 2007). The department of chemicals and petrochemicals initiated action for preparing a feasibility report on setting up mega chemical industrial estates in the country.
Meanwhile, the state cabinet has also approved the Nandagudi SEZ on 5,000 acres in the rural part of Bangalore. Maskil Infrastructure Development Corporation has submitted the proposal for the SEZ and is awaiting the report of the high-power committee headed by the principal secretary.