The Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Kinfra) is awaiting clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to begin work on the proposed petrochemicals park.

The proposed park is coming up on more than 300 acre at Ambalamugal, the property purchased from the public sector Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT).

The land and documents for the park were formally handed over to Kifnra by the District Collector recently paving the way for the government-owned consultancy and infrastructure developer to begin preparations for the project in tandem with the Union government clearance. A detailed project report (DPR) on the proposed petrochemicals park too had been submitted to the government.

Of the 481 acre acquired by the state government from FACT, 170 acre had been handed over to the Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), which was setting up a petrochemicals plant to produce polyols at Kochi refinery.

The petrochemicals park has been long in the making with the initial proposal having been made about a decade ago. Kinfra’s scope of work includes development of the land, and providing infrastructure like road, water and electricity for potential investors in the park. The first unit of BPCL’s propylene derivatives petrochemical project at Kochi refinery is expected to be commissioned in about five months.

The petrochemicals project has three units -- acrylics, acrylic acids and oxoalcochol. Once commissioned, BPCL refinery will produce niche petrochemicals, significantly reducing India’s import dependence. The project involves an investment of over Rs 5,200 crore.

The initial state government plan was to ensure that the petrochemicals park was ready in tandem with the commissioning of the BPCL project.