Haldia Petrochemicals to set up USD 4 billion plant in Odisha, largest domestic investment

Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL) will invest over USD 4 billion in setting up a mega petrochemical complex in Odisha, the state government said Tuesday dubbing the proposal as India's largest domestic investment plan. Odisha's High Level Clearance Authority (HLCA), headed by state chief minister Naveen Patnaik, has approved a proposal submitted by HPL to set up an integrated refinery with aromatics complex for production of Paraxylene and Purified Terephthalic Acid at a total investment of Rs 28,700 crore (USD 4.05 billion), as per an official statement.

The refinery will be set up near Subarnarekha Port in Balasore district, the statement by Odisha government said. The investment proposal was submitted by the Bengal-based company on March 1, 2019.

"The land requirement for the project is 2,000 acre which will be recommended for allotment post assessment by the Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Odisha Ltd (IPICOL)," it said. The port, being built by Tata Steel in association with the state government, witnessed the foundation stone laying ceremony last month.

The port is expected to be built at an investment of Rs 5,000 crore and will create employment opportunities for 12,000 people. "The first phase of the Haldia Petrochemicals' project approved today is expected to be operationalised within five years of allotment of land," the statement said.

PTA is used in polyester fibres and polyethene terephthalate (PET). These products are used by several medium and small scale enterprises to make garments, food packaging applications etc. "Considering the large population base and high GDP growth rate of Odisha and the country overall, the demand for these products is likely to be huge. It is worth considering that entire eastern India and nearby countries like Bangladesh are dependent on sourcing polyester fibres from the western part of India to meet the clothing demand of the region.

"Therefore, it is envisaged that setting up PTA unit will trigger investment in these products and will catalyse the growth of further downstream processing units along the value chain, driving economic growth of the region. "Since the total polyester chain starting from spinning to garments is a labour-intensive process, it is estimated that direct and indirect employment generation potential of the project is about one lakh people," the statement said.

In addition to HPL, the HLCA also approved a proposal of state-owned Indian Oil Corporation for setting up a polyester products manufacturing unit of 3,00,000 tonne per annum capacity at the textiles park coming up at Bhadrak district at an investment of Rs 1,970.52 crore. The project will create employment opportunities for 209 people and is expected to be implemented within four years of land allotment.

The HLCA also approved two proposals of Rungta Mines -- Rs 1,677.98 crore expansion of its sponge iron plant to 0.53 million tonne a year integrated steel plant at Karakolha in Keonjhar district and a Rs 1,848.69 crore proposal for setting up an integrated steel plant of similar capacity at Karakhendra in Keonjhar district.

(With inputs from agencies.)