‘Petrochemical complex with refinery can transform Central India’s economy’
   Date :14-Jan-2021

Shivkumar Rao_1 &nbs
 Shivkumar Rao, Pradeep Maheshwari and others at the recently held meeting of VED Council.
 
 
Business Bureau :
 
BOTH the Central and State governments acknowledge the immediate need for additional refining capacity. There’s a proven demand for additional refining capacity in India, hence the Government is planning aggressive expansion. “Setting up of petrochemical complex with refinery can transform Central India’s economy,” said Shivkumar Rao, President, Vidarbha Economic Development Council (VED) while interacting with MLA Ashish Jaiswal.
 
He said that with the existing fuel consumption of 15-20 MMTPA within the Central India region, 5-7 per cent annual growth in consumption makes the case for 30 MMTPA through brownfield expansion. At present, the entire Vidarbha region is dependent on petroleum products coming from long distances by road and rail with the cost passed on to their consumers, which has resulted in very high priced petrol and diesel, along with all the other products used by individuals and industrial consumers, making the cost of fuel in central India one of the highest in India, informed Rao. He said this high logistics cost is a major deterrent for industries to set up base in central India despite the great potential of 18-20 MMTPA. Rao informed that VED has conducted a detailed study of a large refinery and petrochemical complex in Vidarbha region which can help in terms of jobs and development.
 
With a large refinery in this region the Government can have huge savings in monetary terms, presently being incurred to feed this area. This region can get a better price and the Government would have huge savings as national losses would be reduced in this way. Going into the details of the project, and addressing the output of a petrochemical complex, Pradeep Maheshwari, Vice-President of VED and minerals expert, informed that the current consumer consumption demand of liquid fuel and LPG within 450 sq km area of Nagpur is 14 MMT and this is growing. The demand for petrochemicals is approx 4-5 MMTPA for different consumer industries.
 
As for industrial demand, the most prestigious plant in Vidarbha – Indo Rama - uses 1 MMT petrochemicals (MEG, PTA), 29 cement plants, with over 100 million MT production capacity, within 450 km, ensure consumption of pet coke, diesel and HDPE (for packaging), while domestic and international airports in Central India will lead to a steady demand of ATF, attracting downstream industries like paints, cosmetics, lubricants, industrial plastics, synthetic yarns and polymers. Maheshwari stated the strategic advantages of Central India viz. the significantly lower cost of land, water, power and human resources as compared to other metro cities.