NEW DELHI: Bengal-based Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL) has proposed a total investment of Rs 28,700 crore, or roughly $4 billion, into building a refinery and petrochemical complex near Subarnarekha port in Balasore district of Odisha, boosting the state’s image as an emerging eastern industrial hub.
The state’s High Level Clearance Authority headed by the chief minister on Tuesday cleared the proposal just five days after being submitted, a move that will help Naveen Patnaik counter Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s criticism on lack of development ahead of the elections.
Odisha will elect a new Assembly along with the Lok Sabha election. Pradhan is leading the BJP’s charge in the state and has turned up the heat against Patnaik’s BJD by charging the chief minister with an indifferent and lethargic administration.
