13 yrs on, another PM to lay stone for gas cracker project

The much-touted Assam gas cracker project is set to earn the dubious distinction of having its foundation stone laid by two prime ministers.

The much-touted Assam gas cracker project is set to earn the dubious distinction of having its foundation stone laid by two prime ministers.

Come April 8, and Manmohan Singh will become the second to do so. Thirteen years ago, the then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao had done the honours in 1994.

The Rs 5,600 crore mega gas cracker project, conceived as part of the Assam Accord signed in 1985 to accelerate industrial development in the state, was originally assigned to Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). The latter sat on it for over a decade until the government decided to establish the project on its own two years ago.

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A joint venture company called Brahmaputra Crackers and Polymers Ltd has been formed. GAIL will be the main promoter with 70 per cent stake, while Assam Industrial Development Corporation, Oil India Ltd and Numaligarh Refinery will have ten per cent each.

Though Narasimha Rao had laid the foundation stone of the project at Tengakhat in Dibrugarh district, the site has since been abandoned following objections raised by the Indian Air Force. The latter has a base located quite close to Tengakhat. Now, Lepetkota in the same district has been selected as the new site.

Last week, state industry and commerce minister Pradyut Bordoloi informed the Assembly that the Centre has extended a one-time subsidy of Rs 2136 crore and feedstock subsidy of Rs 908.91 crore to the project. “While work on setting up the project will begin soon, the state has completed the formalities for acquiring about 3300 bighas of land for it,” industry minister Bordoloi said. The project will take five years for completion, he added.

The Assam government, however, has sought to raise its stake from the initial 10 per cent to 26 per cent. With increased stake, the state government will also earn more revenue. At present, the state is only earns royalty from crude oil and gas, apart from the taxes collected by the four refineries, Bordoloi said.

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The feedstock for the project that will have a capacity of producing 220,000 TPA of ethylene and 60,000 TPA of propylene, will be supplied by the ONGCL (1.35 MMSCMD) and Oil India Ltd (6.0 MMSCMD).

Union chemical and fertilizer minister Ram Vilas Paswan has announced that the headquarters of the proposed gas cracker will be in Guwahati.