Mangaluru : The Central government will set up a plastic and polymer park beside the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited here with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore within a year, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers Ananth Kumar has said.

The proposed park would provide employment to around 20,000 youths, he said, addressing the gathering at a function organised to felicitate Dakshina Kannada Member of Parliament, Nalin Kumar Kateel, who has been chosen as the numero uno parliamentarian from the State in a survey conducted by a Kannada daily.

Mangaluru is one among only four places in the country to get a plastic and polymer park. If the State government sanctions 150 acres of land at the earliest, the Centre will commence the work within two months, he said.

Kumar said the Centre had agreed to allow Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers (MCF), SPIC in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, and Madras Fertilisers Limited to run the firms with naphtha. The three companies produce 15.5 lakh MT out of 25.5 MT of urea, which is the total requirement of southern states for a year.

Kumar urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to speak his Kerala counterpart Oommen Chandy to provide gas from the Kochi refinery to Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers .

“A decision was taken to run MCF using gas in 2007 itself, but it has not been implemented yet. The government is also considering doubling the capacity of MCF,” Kumar said.

He urged the State government to provide 500 acres to establish a fertiliser factory in North Karnataka.