A reworked policy for regions for petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals industries (PCPIR) which the chemicals and fertilisers ministry has recently sent to the cabinet secretariat, explicitly bans displacement of the existing "human habitation". However, a bill by the rural development ministry on land acquisitions is likely to allow price negotiation by the land owner and the potential buyer. The idea is that the sense of loss for the owner would be much less, even if the prices of neighbouring areas shoot up after the industrial hub comes up, if state intervention is minimal.
The draft PCPIR policy, which the cabinet is likely to take up soon, also specifies that agricultural land would not be acquired as far as possible.
These PCPIRs are 25 times bigger than the largest class of special economic zones.
Another clause states that even if there are villages in 60% of the land in these regions earmarked for townships, they will not be disturbed. It also proposes a cap on the number of PCPIRs so that states would compete to give better proposals.
The five states of Gujarat, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and West Bengal have identified possible sites for the project, while Tamil Nadu, UP and Bihar have expressed their interest.
16-Feb-07 
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