Page 108 - Plastics News December 2019

iN thE NEws

Government to modify PCPIR, Govt grants six month extension

Petrochem hubs to plastic scrap imports in three
SEZs
he Government of India plans to revitalize and expand
Tthe four oil, chemical and petrochemicals investment
regions (PCPIR), which have struggled as expected to suit he government has
other petrochemical hubs across the world. D.V. Sadananda Tgranted six months
Gowda, Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government extension to listed recycling
of India, declared at the' units in three special
International Chemicals economic zones (SEZs) to
& Petrochemicals import such materials.
Manufacturing Hubs Domestic recycling units
Summit in India 2019' in across the country face ban
Mumbai. The four hubs on import of plastic wastes
are at Dahej (Gujarat), following environmental
V ishakhapat nam concerns. The Board of Approval for SEZs under
(Andhra Pradesh), the chairmanship of Anup Wadhawan, Secretary,
Paradip (Odisha) and Department of Commerce and with members from
Cuddalore (Tamil Nadu). all leading departments involved in the monitoring of
The Indian Chemical & Petrochemical Industry is currently imports, met two weeks ago and decided to extend the
experiencing rapid expansion and the untapped potential letter of agreement (LoAs) for the three SEZs units for
that is being tackled by projects. To attract investment six months till May 31, 2020. The LoAs were scheduled
into such clusters, the PCPIR Rejuvenation Report analyzes to expire on November 30, 2019. The three SEZs in
the existing status of the four zones and the industry's which recycling units are now allowed to import plastic
growth potential. In the last decade, the chemicals scrap include Kandla Special Economic Zone (Kasez),
industry over India has only risen at 3%, and India relies Kandla, Falta SEZ, Kolkata, and Noida Special Economic
on imports to satisfy the demand for most petrochemicals. Zone (NSEZ), Noida. “The board after deliberations,
The PCPIR Andhra Pradesh is the largest PCPIR in the decided to grant an extension of validity of LoA for a
country spread over an area of 640 square kilometers. In period of six months beyond November 30, 2019 i.e.
the state, current factories include HPCL, Hetero, and the to May 31, 2020 to the listed plastic recycling units in
Kakinada State has 7 power projects, 2 chemical-fertilizer KASEZ, Falta SEZ and NSEZ. The board directed to call
plants, HPCL, Coromandel Fertilizers, Andhra and Simhadri a meeting with the committee on policy for plastic
Power Plant and Andhra Petrochemicals and Hetero Drugs. recycling to discuss the policy matter and while the
Since 19 Years of the European Union, committed and policy provisions are deliberated, the physical exports
actual investments amount to $6.82 billion respectively of the units shall be assessed on annual basis,” said
$1.98 billion. In 2017, the Government of India in Tamil the minutes of the meeting of the Board of Approval
Nadu had identified a PCPIR to be developed across 45 under the Ministry of Commerce.The Union Ministry
villages in the districts of Cuddalore and Nagapattinam of Environment and Forest (MoEF) vide its notification
over an area of 256 sq. km but it did not dismantle the dated March 1, 2019 prohibited import of solid plastics
proposal. No major investments are made in the area, waste in SEZs and Export Oriented Units (EoUs). But, a
except for the Anchor Tenant (NOCL).The report provides few dozen plastic recycling units were exempted from
government support through a single fence for rapid track this. Plastics really straddle the boundary between
clearances, environmental clearance for the entire PCPIR scrap and waste. Plastics are an unusual scrap, in that
process, subsidized energy, tax incentives like those for it is not like the metals you find in e-waste, which
SEZs, full-time management of the CEOs led by each are pretty rare and unambiguously valuable. Plastics
PCPIR, reduced clearance timing, etc. The report suggests downgrade easily—even the best quality plastics are
that support should be provided by the government. hardly ever recycled more than once.

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