Haldia Petro's $4bn Odisha project gets nod in 5 days

NEW DELHI: Bengal-based Haldia Petrochemicals (HPL) has proposed a total investment of Rs 28,700 crore, or roughly $4 billion, into building a refinery and petrochemical complex near Subarnarekha port in Balasore district of Odisha, boosting the state’s image as an emerging eastern industrial hub.

The state’s High Level Clearance Authority headed by the chief minister on Tuesday cleared the proposal just five days after being submitted, a move that will help Naveen Patnaik counter Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s criticism of lack of development ahead of the elections.

Odisha is set to elect a new assembly along with the Lok Sabha election. Pradhan is leading the BJP’s charge in the state and has turned up the heat against Patnaik’s BJD by charging the chief minister with an indifferent and lethargic administration. The petroleum minister has used the Paradip refinery complex built by Indian Oil Corporation , which is under his ministry’s control, to project the potential for progress under BJP rule.

The quick nod to Haldia Petrochemicals proposal effectively blunts Pradhan’s narrative in scale, scope and speed of approval. The project envisages land requirement of 2,000 acres, identified near the Rs 5,000 crore Subarnarekha port being built by Tata Steel , to be allotted after assessment by state’s Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation.

The Patnaik-led panel also cleared Indian Oil’s (IOC) Rs 2,000 crore project at Bhadrak district .

The Haldia Petrochemicals project has the potential of creating one lakh jobs by spawning downstream garments and food packaging businesses since it will make Paraxylene and Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA), key ingredients for making polyester fibers and plastic, easily available.