KOCHI: The state government has inched closer to realising the Rs 5,000-crore petrochemical park in Kochi with a memorandum of understanding to be signed on Tuesday with the Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd (FACT) for the required land. Mr Paul Antony, additional chief secretary, industries, commerce and power, told reporters here on Monday the land will be in the possession of the state government from March 31, 2018. The petrochemical complex to be implemented with BPCL as the anchor investor is coming up in nearly 450 acres belonging to FACT. Out of this, BPCL has already reached an agreement with FACT for buying 170 acres. The government has appointed a consultant for the petrochemical complex.
The petrochemical park aims at a slew of downstream industrial units using propylene produced by the BPCL Kochi refinery. The park will have common infrastructure such as effluent treatment and logistics. Initially, the project plans a cluster of hygiene products in 50 acres of land and is expected to be ready in 2019. The other major cluster is for specialty chemicals in 250 acres followed by a cluster for polyurethane, rubber products and components in 50 acres. These two projects are scheduled to begin by 2018 and 2022 respectively. The project also envisages 85 acres for allied, ancillary and support industries for the above clusters and consumer products' manufacture. According to oil industry experts, the park, the first of its kind in the country, will be a major venture for import substitution.
