Centre, Madhya Pradesh government plan to attract Rs 5,000 crore investment in Fertiliser sector

NEW DELHI: The Fertilizer Ministry and Madhya Pradesh government are eyeing investments of over Rs 5,000 crore through setting up of a fertiliser plant and a plastic park in the state.

Besides, both Centre and the state have also decided to explore the possibility of setting up a petrochemical investment region around Bina refinery in Madhya Pradesh which could result in investment of a few thousand crores, sources said.

Fertilizer Minister Ananth Kumar yesterday met Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and discussed setting up of a fertiliser plant, a plastic park and a petrochemical region in the state.

After the meeting, Kumar said: "A number of proposals for various projects, including setting up of a fertiliser plant at Jabalpur and a plastic park at Gwalior. were discussed".

The Union Minister added that a joint working group of officials of both the Fertilizer Ministry and the state government has been constituted to work on these proposals.

According to sources, the proposed fertiliser plant will require an investment of about Rs 5,000 crore, while the plastic park will need about Rs 100 crore.

Speaking after the meeting, Chouhan said: "The discussions were positive and we have started exploring the possibilities of all these proposals".

Chouhan added that there is need for another fertiliser plant as agriculture in the state is growing at the highest rate in the county.

"..we are also planning to increase the student strength of Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPETs) in Bhopal to 8,000 students," the state Chief Minister said.

CIPET comes under the purview of Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.