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Bharat Petroleum Ltd (BPCL) has shelved plans for a specialty petrochemical plant to produce polyols at its Kochi refinery
.
The project will be built on 170 acres adjacent to the refinery, which was acquired by BPCL from FACT Ltd, a central state-owned enterprise
.
However, sources at the Kochi refinery said BPCL halted the construction of a road underpass connecting the project site and the refinery after completing land formation work at the plant
.
The process of selecting a technology procurement licensor for the polyol plant has also been frozen
.
"All project-related activities have ceased," the source said.
"
BPCL management believes that, given the large investments involved, it is only appropriate to obtain the consent of the company's private owners following a strategic divestment
.
Uncertainty surrounding polyol plants has cast a shadow over the Kerala government's planned petrochemical complex, where small industries will utilize polyol plants and Propylene Derivatives Petrochemical Project (PDPP) to produce niche/ Specialty petrochemicals
.
The PDPP was constructed with an investment of Rs 5,246 crore by BPCL and is expected to be put into operation by the end of February
.
"The petrochemical complex is a big development project in the state and has the potential to create more than 100,000 jobs
," a Kerala government official said
.
"If the Kochi refinery is privatized, it will adversely affect the fate of the petrochemical complex that the state government is planning," Kerala Chief Minister P Vijayan told the state assembly on Monday
.
"BPCL privatization will stall the Kerala government's use of PDPP and polyol projects to build petrochemical parks of over Rs 25,000 crore," S Sharma, a member of the Legislative Assembly representing Vypeen constituency, said in a motion on Monday's call for privatization of BPCL.
There are growing concerns about the shelving of plans for
BPCL privatisation.
The impact of privatisation of BPCL on Kerala development will be huge
.
”
other projects
other projectsThe central decision to transfer 170 acres of land belonging to FACT to BPCL for the construction of the polyol plant, with the approval of the Kerala government, has also been criticized as the land will go to private hands after the divestment
.
"This would be against the purpose of the Kerala state government to acquire the land and transfer it to FACT
.
The condition for using the land is that it should only be used for the development of FACT
.
" Kerala state government officials said, "If the purpose of land use is changed, and hand it over to a private entity, it requires permission from the Kerala state government
.
"
BPCL also stopped work on establishing a skills development centre at Ettumanoor near Kochi
.
This skills development centre can train students graduating from ITI
.
The state had provided 8 acres of land at the ITI for a skills development centre, with plans to train 1,500 students a year
.
"BPCL has withdrawn officials overseeing the project amid signs that it is no longer keen to continue the project
," the source said.
Kerala government officials said BPCL, the largest central state-owned enterprise operating in Kerala, should not be privatized for the development of the state
.
BPCL said: "No projects at the BPCLKochi refinery have been put on hold
.
All of our projects are on track and we are committed to planning capital expenditures
for fiscal 2021.
A few projects have experienced some delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic
.
Our Some projects require foreign licensors to come to our refinery for technical/inspection work, but they cannot do that due to travel restrictions,"
