India:Tamil Nadu Petrochem Industry Pushes for Naphtha Cracker Facility in State

The petrochemical industry in Tamil Nadu has urged the Centre and State governments to help establish a naphtha cracker and downstream units as part of the Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) policy and industrial cluster development. In a representation to the Centre, the Chemical Industries Association (CIA) has urged the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry to establish a naphtha cracker that will utilise the excess naphtha available from refineries of IOC-owned Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (CPCL) in Chennai and the planned expanded facility in Nagapattinam.

According to the Association, petrochemical and plastic units are starved of raw materials and are dependent on imports. CPCL’s Chennai refinery will soon generate over 900-ktpa naphtha and with a new refinery complex in Nagapattinam, over 1,500-ktpa will be available.

The cracker unit can be established on a collaborative model with CPCL, CIA said. Over 1,500 acres land is available near the Nagapattinam refinery within the proposed PCPIR by the State government. Therefore, there are no issues relating to rehabilitation and resettlement, according to the Association.

A pre-feasibility study has been conducted and the project can be commissioned by 2025. Last year, the Tamil Nadu government had notified over 23,000 ha spanning 45 villages across Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts as a PCPIR. The proposal to promote the area as a PCPIR for investments in the sector was approved by the Centre in 2012.

Originally, the Hyderabad-based Nagarjuna group’s refinery planned at Cuddalore was to be the mother unit for the PCPIR. But the project has been stalled and efforts are on to revive the refinery plan under the purview of the NCLT.

According to Mr. S. Ilanahai, President, Chemical Industries Association, Cuddalore can also be considered an alternative site for the cracker project. With a large oil public sector unit considering a proposal for reviving the Nagarjuna refinery, it can consider a naphtha cracker at the site. There is no such unit in the South.