The first meeting of the Task Force on Petroleum, Chemicals and Petro-chemicals Investment Regions (PCPIR) was held today, in PMO. The Task Force, headed by the Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, comprises Secretaries of concerned Ministries of the Central Government, Chairpersons of Oil PSUs, representatives of the NRI Task Force, and Chief Secretaries of the States with potential for development of chemicals and petro-chemicals industry. In the meeting held today , Chief Secretaries of the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal, Punjab and Haryana as well as senior officials from the State Governments of Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Maharastra were present.

2. It is anticipated that the next decade will see 90% of the global investment in this sector, in the region east of the Suez Canal. India is being seen as the preferred destination for this investment, and this can be achieved through the setting up of large investment regions, which would provide necessary infrastructure of global standards, and generate synergies through co-siting, and efficient flows of raw materials and finished products.

3. The Task Force felt that the PCPIR concept needs to be pursued vigorously, and in this direction, the first priority is the laying down of guidelines, indicating commitments of Central and State Governments. Towards this end, the task force set up a group. The guidelines would be finalized within a month, and further decisions regarding actual setting up of the PCPIRs, would be taken expeditiously, facilitating investment decisions. Another group of the Task Force will examine issues relating to feedstock availability.