IOCL expansion, Naphtha plant not new: BJD

Bhubaneswar : Two days after the Odisha government signed an MoU with IOCL for establishment of a Naphtha cracker project at an investment of over Rs 58,000 crore in Paradip, opposition BJD on Thursday claimed that it was already approved by the previous government headed by Naveen Patnaik.
Addressing a press conference here, Santrupt Misra, the BJD’s national spokesperson and political secretary to BJD president Naveen Patnaik, alleged that the state government is trying to mislead the public by changing only the name and branding of previously approved projects and presenting them as new.
He also alleged that the current BJP state government has been attempting to gain “false” credit by re-signing and re-announcing development projects that had already been approved during the previous government’s tenure. One such project is the Indian Oil expansion in Paradip, including the setting up of an integrated naphtha cracker plant, he claimed.
Misra said that on January 11, 2018, then Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting approval for the expansion of Indian Oil’s project in Paradip and the setting up of a naphtha cracker plant. In April 2019, Indian Oil submitted a proposal for this expansion, which was duly approved by the then BJD government, he said.
The Indian Oil proposal included an increase in production capacity from 15 million tonne to 25 million tonne and the establishment of a naphtha cracker plant, with a total estimated investment of Rs 1.3 lakh crore. In 2023, the then Industry Secretary of Odisha had also outlined the detailed incentives the state government would provide to Indian Oil for the project.
Misra also questioned the state government about the status of other projects such as the JSW EV project and the Welspun Textiles project in Choudwar, the MoUs of which were signed during Naveen Patnaik’s tenure. He demanded clarity on what steps the current government has taken to implement these projects.