Puttur : Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers Ananth Kumar has said that the Central government wants to set up a Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) in Mangaluru. In this background, I have asked Mangaluru MP Nalin Kumar Kateel to hold talks with Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas during the next budget session, he added.

Speaking at the inauguration of three-day ‘Krishi Yantra Mela 2015’ organised by the Campco, Arecanut Research and Development Foundation (ARDF) and Vivekananda College of Engineering and Technology at Puttur on Saturday, he said the PCPIR would come up at Paradeep, Vishakapattanam, Nagapattanam and Dahej (Gujrat) at an estimated cost of Rs 10.5 lakh crore. This will provide employment to 37 lakh people, he said.

On continuation of subsidy to naphtha-fed units, he said that he had held meeting with Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy and discussed on completion of gas pipeline from Kochi to Mangaluru. The MPs have agreed to extend their support to the GAIL which has been implementing the project.

The production of urea with the existing naphtha-fed system will continue till the natural gas is made available to the Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd. The gas pipeline is likely to be completed in next two-and-half years, he added.

Import duty on arecanut

He said that he would impress upon the Union Minister for Finance Arun Jaitely to increase import duty on arecanut from 115 per cent to 175 per cent. Import of arecanut in a large quantity was responsible for decrease in price of arecanut in the domestic market. The import of arecanut from Nepal has been banned. When the government wanted to ban import of arecanut from Bangladesh, a writ was filed in the court. The Central government will try its level best to vacate the writ, he said.

The Union Minister said that the Centre was planning to revive rubber cultivation on the model of coffee. The price of rubber has slashed in the international market. The Centre is committed to protect the interest of the rubber growers, Kumar added.

Before implementing food security, there is a need for fertiliser security in the country. The country should become self-reliant in the production of fertilisers in the next five years. The Centre has decided to set up a fertiliser factory in Madhya Pradesh, the minister added.

“Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has held talks with me on setting up of 13 lakh tonnes capacity urea production unit in Karnataka. The department has received a letter on the same. The CM has promised to hand over 500 acres land for the same,” he said.

MP Nalin Kumar Kateel said the people in Dakshina Kannada were worried over the recommendations by Kasturirangan report on Western Ghats, fall in the prices of arecanut and rubber. “We will support setting up of petro park. It should come up on SEZ land. The farmers land should be protected.”

Karnataka Zonal Post Master General Aindri Anurag released a postal cover on Varanasi Subraya Bhat.

Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari D Veerendra Heggade, Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises G M Siddeshwar, Campco President Konkody Padmanabha and others were present.