VIJAYAWADA: Union Minister for Petroleum Hardeep Singh Puri has said only if the Andhra Pradesh government comes forward for adjusting Viability Gap Funding (VGF), construction of Petrochemical Complex in Kakinada is possible.
In a reply to YSRC MP V Vijayasai Reddy’s question on the petrochemical complex in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, the minister said Andhra Pradesh signed an MoU with GAIL and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) for setting up Petrochemical Complex in Kakinada at an estimated cost of Rs 32,901 crore. Later, the viability of the projects were studied.
Minister said that those two companies made it clear that for the project to be executed, the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) has to be borne by the state government. The State government, in turn, urged the Centre to fund the VGF.
For setting up a petrochemical complex, huge capital expenditure and investment is required and once the project gets realised, it will have a deep impact, directly and indirectly on the State’s economy. It will improve industrialisation and increase revenue in the form of taxes. At the same time, employment opportunities will increase tremendously. Considering the State’s interest, it is for the State government to take an appropriate decision in this regard, he said.
In another question of the MP with regard to the dedicated freight corridor between Kharagpur-Vijayawada (1,115 km ) and Vijayawada-Nagpur (975 km), Union minister for Mines Prashalad Joshi said Indian Railways is preparing DPRs for them. He said under national mineral policy, dedicated mineral corridors are to be created for transportation of minerals from mining areas. The freight corridors are to be developed with international standards, he said.