JOIN USUnion Minister Ananth Kumar said on Saturday the state will soon get a fertiliser plant at an investment of Rs 6,000 crore.
Kumar, who holds the Chemicals and Fertilisers portfolio, was in Vidhana Soudha to address the foundation-laying ceremony for the Advanced Polymer Design and Development Research Laboratory (APDDRL) at a defence and aerospace park in Devanahalli. The laboratory will be a research and development centre of the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET) with an investment of Rs 87 crore.
Kumar said the plant will be jointly developed by the state and union governments, and based on a PPP model. The plant, with an annual production capacity of 13 lakh tonne, is proposed to come up in Davangere, Dharwad or Vijayapura.
“A preliminary survey is being conducted. The feasibility report and location for this fertiliser plant will be decided by the end of this month,” Kumar said.
The proposed site for the plant had to be identified based on the availability of natural gas. “We have a gas pipeline project from Dhabol to Bidadi via Bengaluru, which is on in full swing. The site needs to be finalised after working out necessary plans,” the minister said.
Kumar said in one month’s time cooking gas will be supplied through pipelines in the city.
“There is a need for 10 lakh engineers and technicians, but we get only 65,000 a year now. Realising the need for skilled manpower in the plastic sector, we have set up 19 CIPETs over the last two years,” Kumar said.
The minister said the government has also decided to reduce the price of fertilisers.
Minister for Large and Medium Scale Industries R V Deshpande said the state has alloted five acres worth Rs 2.5 crore per acre for APDDRL.