CHENNAI: Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan is seeking additional 600 acres of land from the state government to set up Rs 27,460 crore Cauvery Basin Refinery at Narimanam in Nagapattinam district.
Speaking in Chennai after dedicating Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited's Residue Upgradation Project on Tuesday, the minister said that the project will be taken up once an additional land is acquired from the state government.
K Pandiarajan, minister for Tamil development, culture and archaeology, who was also present on the occasion, said that that the union petroleum minister will be holding talks with Tamil Nadu chief minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami to acquire additional 600 acres of land on Tuesday.
"They already have 600 acres of land and want additional 650 acres of and for setting up a new nine million tonnes per annum refinery at Cauvery Basin. Currently, it has one million metric tonnes per annum refinery at Nagapattinam," said Pandiarajan.
He also said that the state government has been urging the Centre for setting up of Naptha Cracker unit in Tamil Nadu. He said once the cracker unit is established in the state it will reduce the import of Rs 2.17 lakh crore worth of petroleum products.
Earlier, Pradhan said that the Residue Upgradation Project will reduce production of fuel oil and increase percentage of high sulphur crude oil processing in the crude mix.
The main products from this project are 70pc of gas and liquid distillates with around 30pc of petroleum coke.
Earlier, Pandiarajan has urged the union petroleum minister to use the Corporate Social Responsibility funds for rejuvenating water bodies in Thiruvallur district and help build school infrastructure as well as skill development centre for people in the region.