Kochi Petrochemical Park to make Kerala industry-friendly: CM

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said theRs 300 crorePetrochemical Park coming up at Ambalamugal in Kochi, willchange the perception that the state was not industryfriendly.

Vijayan was speaking after laying the foundation stoneof the parkthrough video conference.

''The government was accepting investors with open armsand would provide all necessary assistance,'' he said.

The park, coming up on 481.79 acres of land acquired bythe state government from Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore(FACT), a central public sector undertaking, is being set upby the Industries Department in collaboration with BharatPetroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL).

About 229 acres will be available in the petrochemicalpark for industrial ventures and at present, 171 acres hasbeen allotted on lease for development of BPCL, while 33 percent of the land will be retained for establishment of a greenbelt, as per the Union Ministry of Environment guidelines.

The Kerala Industrial Infrastructure DevelopmentCorporation (KINFRA) will provide the basic facilities at thepark, including supply of 12 million litres of water per day,supply of 11 and 33 kilowatts of electricity, pollutioncontrol plant, GAIL gas pipeline and waste treatment system,apress release said.

The park is expected to be completed within 30 months.

KINFRA has received 17 applications for startingbusiness ventures and all these applications have beenapproved by the district level allotment committee.

Industries Minister E P Jayarajan, MLAs VP Sajeendranand M Swaraj, Principal Secretary-Industries, A P M MohammadHaneeshwere among those present on the occasion.

In another function, the Chief Minister inauguratedthe power transformer plant of Kerala Electrical and AlliedEngineering Limited (KEL) at its Mamala unit, in the presenceof Power Minister M M Mani.

He also inaugurated an e-vehicle charging station setup in KEL premises to cater to the emerging e-vehiclemarket.