India’s Plastic Parks yet to be operational

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has raised serious concerns on the slow pace of development of Plastic Parks

The Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals (DCPC) is actively promoting the establishment of Plastic Parks across India to boost the downstream plastic processing industry, promote waste management, and encourage sustainable growth. 

Ten plastic parks have been approved under a central scheme, with the aim of attracting investment, increasing production and exports, and generating employment. 

These parks will offer state-of-the-art infrastructure and shared facilities, fostering a cluster-based approach to enhance the capabilities of the domestic plastic processing industry. 

However, these Parks are yet to be operational. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has raised serious concerns on the development of Plastic Parks by DCPC.  

The Committee noted with concern that none of the 10 Plastic Parks approved so far could be made functional for one reason or the other. “… a perusal of information submitted to the Committee reveals a dismal picture. Out of the total number of 905 plots across 10 Plastic Parks, only 244 plots have been allotted to industrial units which is just 26.96% of the total number of plots. What is more disturbing to the Committee is the fact that the Plastic Parks would contribute to increasing investment, production and employment only after the Plastic Parks are populated,” the Standing Committee report reads. 

According to the report, Plastic Park at Tamot, Madhya Pradesh; Paradeep, Odisha, and Tinsukia, Assam are stated to have completed 100 per cent civil work, 98 per cent civil work and 85 per cent civil work respectively. But, these Parks could not be made functional due to the pace of allotment of plots in these parks. 

Similarly, the Plastic Park at Deoghar, Jharkhand and Bilaua, Madhya Pradesh are stated to have completed 85 per cent and 82 per cent of civil work respectively but they also could not be made functional due to delays in completion of infrastructure work due to elections and local opposition, pending environment feasibility study, delay in land and contractual issues, etc. “As such, the fate of these Plastic Parks is hanging in the fire and there is no certainty as to when these issues would be resolved,” the report reads. 

The Committee recommended that the Department should initiate steps to resolve these issues urgently else so that the investment of crores of rupees made in Plastic Parks yield the desired results. 

The DCPC is implementing the Plastic Parks Scheme as part of the New Scheme of Petrochemicals. The government provides grant funding of up to 50 per cent of the project cost, capped at Rs. 40 crore per park. 

The scheme promotes a cluster development approach, which encourages synergy among plastic-related businesses and industries within the park.