India News | Odisha Clears Incentive Package for IOCL Cracker Plant

Bhubaneswar. Mar 10 (PTI) The Odisha state Cabinet has approved a special package of incentives for a nearly 60,000 crore investment proposal of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), the state assembly was informed on Friday.

The CPSU has proposed for setting up of a Mega Dual Feed Cracker (DFC) at Paradip with investment of Rs.58,042 crore for production Ethylene, Polypropylene, Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC), Phenol, Is-Propyl Alcohol (IPA) etc. for total capacity of 2822 KTA.

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The proposal was approved by a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari informed the Assembly on Friday.

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IOCL had requested for a specific incentive packages to improve the viability of the project. A High-Level Committee recommended this to the Cabinet after examining the incentive proposal taking into account benefits to the state.

The Dual Feed Cracker will enable significant industrial development in various downstream industries like plastic, pharma, API, agro chemical, personal care products (FMCG), speciality chemicals, paints and packaging materials. These downstream industries in MSME sector will create large employment opportunities with enhanced economic activity in the state, an official release said.

IOCL and its downstream industries will generate about 25,000 jobs both directly and indirectly. The state will also gain through the equity investment towards land to be allotted in favour of the company, it added.

In a bid to improve the lives of tribal communities in Odisha, the state government has also sanctioned a Rs 500 crore package to be implemented within three years.

Pujari said the ST & SC Development, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare Department will implement the Livelihoods Cluster Development initiative under Mukhya Mantri Janajati Jeebika Mission through the State sector scheme ‘ST Livelihood and Income Generating Programme”.

The new State funded scheme will be implemented in 119 TSP blocks (tribal concentrated areas) of the State through 22 ITDAs utilising a total outlay of Rs 500 crores over a period of three years from 2022-23 to 2025-26, Pujari said.

As per the scheme, over 1.5 lakh tribal households will be supported by ensuring timely access to quality inputs, infrastructure support incidental to livelihood, introduction of better production practices, training and capacity building support and marketing assistance in a convergence mode.

The ST & SC Development Department, through this new scheme will enable the tribal households to venture into well planned farm based & off-farm livelihood activities at the household level for increasing their income and quality of life on a sustained basis, officials said.

Pujari said that the new initiative will supplement the Odisha Government's vision of improving lives & livelihoods of tribal communities in the State by enhancing their economic power and strengthening their sources of livelihood.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)