Poonam Singh

Ahmedabad: Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday flagged off from L&T's Hazira plant in Surat district critical components bound for Indian Oil's MEG (mono-ethylene glycol) plant coming up at the refinery-cum-petrochemical complex at Paradip.

During his visit to Surat in Gujarat, the minister flagged off the equipment from the engineering and construction giant Larsen & Toubro's Hazira plant.

"Flagged-off indigenously manufactured critical components from L&Ts Hazira manufacturing facility to @IndianOilcls MEG (mono-ethylene glycol) plant coming up at the refinery-cum- petrochemical complex at Paradip in Odisha," Pradhan tweeted after the visit.

In a series of tweets, the Union Minister said the delivery of three super critical equipment -- Ethylene Oxide Reactor, Wash Tower and De-ethyleniser -- "will be a significant stride in the commissioning of the MEG project at Paradip refinery" and will help reduce MEG imports and also enhance the competitiveness of the refinery.

"It will also act as a driver for the growing textiles industry in Odisha, fuel several downstream textile and polymer industries in the region, strengthen #MakeInIndia and also meet the entire MEG requirement for the proposed Textile Park at Bhadrak and Dhamra," he said.

"The MEG project being setup with an investment of Rs 5,654 crore is expected to be commissioned in October, 2021. It will boost large-scale employment generation in the textile sector, including creation of 14,000 job opportunities in the downstream units at Bhadrak and Dhamra alone," he said further.

He said this will help establish Paradip as a hub of petroleum, textiles and petrochemical-based industries and usher in unprecedented opportunities for the development of Odisha.

Pradhan also visited steel-making facilities at Arcellor-Mittal Nippon Steel at Hazira. In another tweet, he said the company is planning a capacity addition of 8 million tonne per annum to its 12-MTPA capacity iron ore pelletization facility in Paradip.

"Happy that AMNS India has evinced interest in expanding its investment footprints to the tune of Rs 50,000 crore in Odisha, especially in the areas of value added and special steels," he said.

(PTI)

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