TN expect work on Cuddalore petchem region to resume soon

With the liquidation of Nagarjuna Oil Corp (NOCL) nearing completion, Tamil Nadu government is expecting the work on the proposed petroleum, chemicals & petrochemicals investment region (PCPIR) clusters to be resumed soon. NOCL, a part of the Rs 4,300-crore Nagarjuna group, was the anchor investor for the proposed PCPIR in Tamil Nadu.

However, after NOCL went into liquidation, the project came to a grinding halt. "All I can say is that things are not going according to the plan as the anchor investor for PCPIR was NOCL which ran into liquidation. But there is hope now as the liquidation proceedings are almost over and we are expecting a big player to take over NOCL, which will set the ball back into motion," Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation executive director Aneesh Sekhar S told an chemicals & petrochemicals industry summit organized by Ficci.

The proposed PCPIR, to come up at Cuddalore and Nagapattinam spread over an area of 257 sqkm with an investment of Rs 8,100 crore, is expected to generate 7,37,000 jobs, he added. According to reports, the Rs 3,500-crore NOCL project in Cuddalore was to go on-stream in 2012 but various delays escalated the cost by nearly three-times before the project came to an abrupt a halt in December 2011 following a cyclone.

A consortium of 14 banks that funded the project were to bring in an additional Rs 7,000-crore debt as part of a restructuring plan, which, however, did not materialise. Insolvency proceedings were initiated against NOCL by an operational creditor and since the RP could get a decent revival proposal or a buyer, the company was sent to liquidation..

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