The Mehsana-Bathinda natural gas pipeline project passing through Rajasthan is set to create new investment opportunities in the State and make existing industries competitive. The work has been initiated for developing new industrial areas to promote sector-specific clusters near the gas pipeline route.
Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation (RIICO) Managing Director Ashutosh A.T. Pednekar said here on Saturday that the pipeline infrastructure would create tremendous investment opportunities in the ceramic and glass, food processing, mineral, textile and pharmaceutical sectors.
“The availability of natural gas will help develop Rajasthan as an industrial power house of the country. With an investment-friendly policy framework, RIICO will be prompting horizontal industrialisation with the establishment of about 100 new industrial areas,” Mr. Pednekar said at a virtual event of the Rajasthan chapter of the PHD Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
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Strategic projects such as the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor; the Marwar industrial growth cluster; and the Barmer petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals investment region, along with the robust gas pipeline infrastructure, would be leveraged to take industrialisation to a “new growth orbit”, Mr. Pednekar said.
Mr. Pednekar, who is also the State Industries Secretary, said gas companies needed to embark upon a joint strategy, programmes for educating and motivating users, and evolve competitive and hassle-free supply policies in order to promote the use of natural gas in the industry.
PHDCCI president Sanjay Aggarwal said Rajasthan was waiting for the opportunity to harness the availability of a clean and economic source of energy, which was a prerequisite for industrial development.
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Of the 1,381 km-long gas pipeline, 873 km pass through 11 districts of the State, which are rich in various raw materials and agricultural products.