44 tonnes of granules have piled up at shredding units

Huge quantities of plastic granules remain unutilised in the city as the civic authorities could not get the approval of the Public Works Department for using them for road works. Conversion of plastic refuse into granules was introduced in the city as a method for managing plastic waste. The Kochi Corporation had earlier contracted Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) Kochi chapter for the collection of plastic refuse from the city flats where the agency had initiated a clean city campaign. The plastic thus collected were shredded to granules and stored at the shredding units in the city.

The expansion project to fire up BPCL’s Kochi refinery capacity to 15.5 million tonnes a year

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd’s integrated refinery expansion project in Kochi is expected to get environmental clearance anytime now with Tuesday’s meeting of the Expert Appraisal Committee (Industry) for Environmental Impact Assessment in New Delhi ending on a positive note. Union Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs K.V. Thomas told The Hindu on the telephone that the expert committee, which considered the project, was positive on its assessment though a formal announcement had not been made on the project getting the green signal.

State-run oil marketer Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), which is setting up its first propylene unit in Kochi, said it was ready to offer 51 per cent stake in the Rs 6,000-crore project to its Korean joint venture partner LG Chemicals.

‘We have already inked an MoU (memorandum of understanding) with LG Chemicals for this project. They are looking at 51 per cent stake in the JV (joint venture) and we are open to that. The JV company will be in place by December or January and the plant will be commissioned by the end of financial year 2017,” BPCL Finance Director S Varadarajan said.

Kochi The Kerala government on Friday wrapped up a MoU with Bharat Petroleum for a slew of petroleum and gas projects totalling an investment to the tune of Rs.20,000 crore.

Chief minister Oommen Chandy signed the pact with BPCL chairman RK Singh on the final day of the three-day Emerging Kerala meet. The agreement involves raising the production capacity of Kochi Refineries from the present 9.5 million MT to 15.5 million MT and setting up of a petrochemical complex. This would give direct employment to 10,000 people and indirect jobs to 25,000 others, marking a radical change in Kerala’s industrial annals, RK Singh said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday said his government will prepare project reports for metro in 19 cities that are home to more than 2 million people.

Metro rail projects are currently under implementation in seven cities

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said metro rail projects would start in 19 cities, which have a population of more than 2 million. Addressing the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Kochi Metro project here, Singh said, “We have taken a decision to support preparation of detailed project reports for metro rail projects in all the 19 cities with population of more than 2 million. DPRs have already been prepared for 12 cities.” The first phase links Aluva to Petta.

It was as though the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh was endorsing the concerns raised by the greens within the State Congress in the run up to the ‘Emerging Kerala’ meet.

Noting that an efficient transport system was ‘critical’ for orderly growth of cities, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said the government has decided to support preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPR) for Metro rail in all 19 cities with a population of over two million.

Laying the foundation for the Rs 5,181 crore Kochi Metro project here, Dr. Singh said DPRs had already been prepared for 12 cities and Metro rail projects were being implemented in seven cities, covering a total network of length 476 km at a cost of over Rs 1.15 lakh crore.

Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) has announced a higher compensation to farmers in seven districts of the state on whose land through which it would be laying underground pipeline to take liquefied natural gas from Kochi to Bangalore.

“The revised scale has been fixed as per the directions of the State Government by which each farmer will now be getting a compensation equivalent to 13 per cent of the ‘new guideline value’ of the land utilised for laying pipeline plus an amount to offset the cost of crops displaced, if any, to facilitate digging of earth,” S. Angamuthu, senior manager of GAIL, told The Hindu .

Aimed at achieving 15 per cent growth in milk production in the district, the Department of Animal Husbandry has formulated a `71 lakh initiative for setting up dairy farms and milk shed development projects.

A Rs 27.03 lakh project has also been formulated to promote fodder crop cultivation, said Dairy Development Board deputy director V Unni. Financial assistance will be provided to those who are ready to set up farm units