Pharma park to attract small and medium-sized units

The proposed Petrochemical and Pharma Parks, being established on land purchased from Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore at Ambalamugal, is expected to directly generate substantial number of jobs.

Senior officials of government agencies Kinfra and Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation, tasked with developing the park space, told a press conference here on Tuesday that the petrochem park was expected to generate between 3,000 and 5,000 jobs. The pharma park on about 40 acres is expected to attract between 20 and 30 small and medium-sized units.

The two parks will utilise propylene derivatives from BPCL-Kochi Refinery’s expanded facility. The refinery capacity has been raised from 9.5 million tonnes to 15.5 million tonnes a year; it will produce five lakh tonnes of propylene a year. “The State government’s petrochem park has been on the drawing board for a while; it has added a pharma park to the plans, and appointment of a consultant to finalise the design for the park,” said the officials from the government agencies, which have been given the task of putting in place infrastructure like road, as well as common facilities such as water and electricity supply, and effluent treatment system.

The objective of the project was to assist downstream units, which would use niche petrochemical products to manufacture adhesives, plasticisers, water-based chemicals, sealants, etc, said a press release.