CHANDIGARH: Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said here on Friday that the world-class petrochemical hub being developed over 5,000 acres at Panipat in the State would generate an investment of about Rs.25,000 crores and provide employment to over 20,000 people.

Mr. Hooda was speaking at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) here for the creation of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to develop the petrochemical hub at Panipat.

The MoU was signed by B.M.Bansal, Director Planning and Business Development of IOC, and Rajiv Arora, Managing Director of HSIDC, in the presence of Mr.Hooda and IOC Chairman Sarthak Behuria.

Assuring all cooperation of the State Government to IOC for setting up of this mega project, Mr. Hooda said the process was on to acquire 1,000 acres of land for the project while the remaining land would be acquired in a phased manner.

Later talking to media persons, Mr.Behuria disclosed that IOC was in the process of commissioning its Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) plant at Panipat at an estimated cost of Rs.5,100 crores. IOC plans to invest about Rs.30,000 crores in petrochemical business in a phased manner in India and abroadto become a leading petrochemical player in South-East Asia, he added.

For Haryana, he said, this project would lay the foundation for creation of a world class petrochemical hub in the State, which would result in significant industrial activities attracting investments, generating employment and revenue for the State.

He said the Naphtha cracker project would cost about Rs.11,000 crores and generate 800,000 metric tonnes of ethylene and 600,000 metric tonnes of propylene annually. It also envisaged downstream polymer units for production of High Density Polyethelene, Linear Low Density Polyethelene, Polypropylene and Mono Ethylene Glycol. The major source of raw material for this project would be captive Naphtha generated from IOC's refineries in Panipat, Mathura and Gujarat. With this investment, he said, the total investment of Indian Oil in Panipat complex would touch Rs.20,000 crores.

He further hoped that the project would attract investment in a number of ancillary units like blow moulding, injection moulding, film and pipe production and the multiplier impact thereof would generate an overall investment of Rs.25,000 crores to 28,000 crores in the State.

He added that a special cell had been created for setting up of petrochemical hub and dialogue with a number of industrial houses had been initiated for setting up of ancillary units. The intention was to develop a world-class petrochemical hub which would be as good as Jurong Island of Singapore.

He said that in a highly competitive and surplus domestic and export market, Indian Oil had achieved over 34 per cent market share in domestic market. He disclosed that the share of the IOC and HSIDC was yet to be decided but they had an open mind and the focus now was on development of infrastructure.

Mr.Hooda disclosed that he had spoken to Mr.Behuria regarding procurement of Petcoke, a by- product of the oil refinery, to generate 500 MW of power. The Haryana Government was trying to tap additional power from all possible sources.

The Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary,Industries, P.K.Chaudhary, said a consultant would be appointed to advise on equity to be shared for the petrochemical hub. Apart from HSIDC and IOC, the petrochemical hub would have a third partner for this joint venture.

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