Plastic Parks-Will it fulfill the dream of achieving tectonic transformation in employment generation?

On an earlier occasion there was a criticism by this Blogger regarding the proposal to set up "Plastic" Parks in different parts of the country to increase the production of various plastic materials required by many user industries mainly because of the fact that plastic produced from fossil fuels is not a sustainable proposition in the long run. Of course there are new plastics emerging using new technologies based on renewable sources of carbon with minimum environmental pollution. One is not sure from the information available from the government regarding the product mix and technology mix being considered for setting up production units in these new "Parks". If even a part of the projected "benefits" touted by the government is achievable, it could be a game changer. However if the gap between "talk" and "act" evident in the past is any indication these parks also are not going to be different from others floated by other ministries like MFPI. Here is a gist of the grand vision projected by the concerned minister recently in a "conference" and readers are free to come to their own conclusions regarding whether this is a PR exercise or a realistic and honest effort.  

"A meeting of the Consultative Committee of Members of Parliament attached to the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers was held on April 7, 2015 to discuss the progress on Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Regions (PCPIRs) and plastic parks. "Today's challenge in the sector is value addition and for that value addition, milking the crude for further proliferation of the downstream industries is needed," said Ananth Kumar, minister of chemicals& fertilizers, in the meeting. The Modi Government is targeting to achieve an investment of Rs 7,62,000 crores and generate employment for 34 lakh people in PCPIRs, in time bound manner. Already there has been an investment Rs 1,06,000 crores which has generated employment for 2.23 lakh people in various PCPIRs. The minister informed the committee members about government's initiatives to increase the number of plastic parks from 4 to 10 to catch up with the increasing demand. He also mentioned that the number of Central Institutes for Plastic Engineering and Technology (CIPET) will be increased from 23 to 100, to create additional capacity for skill development in the area. Ananth Kumar said that the Government is emphasising on reducing the consumption of non-biodegradable plastics, and re-using and re-cycling of other graded polymers. He said that the Government has instituted awards for green technology in plastic processing, to promote environment-friendly efforts in the industry." 

The figures quoted by the minister are indeed staggering to say the least. Investments to the tune of seven and half lakh crore are breath taking while generating employment for a quarter million people is highly impressive. The proposal to set up 100 R & D and training centers for skill development is mind boggling. How far these Parks will go for new green technologies cannot be foreseen since India lags far behind many other countries in developing technologies production from renewable resources and for those with biodegradable credentials. Probably to really put into operation these ideals and aspirations large scale foreign participation may be necessary which is linked to foreign investment policy of the government. All we can do at this juncture is to wish the minister good luck and hope for the best.   

 V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

Why is India promoting manufacture of plastics in the country? Is it a forward looking policy?

With the government's top priority bestowed on its "Make in India" policy, manufacturing sector is set to get all types of encouragement and proactive support from the government. A question that begs for an answer is whether the policy makers have selected the product basket for expanding production within the country or any one is welcome to manufacture any thing that will provide employment economic growth? This blogger is provoked to raise this issue because of a recent announcement by the plastic industry that special plastic "parks" are going to be established in the country for expanding production of fossil fuel based plastic materials in the next few years. This is a paradoxical situation when use of plastics is being curbed because of their indestructibility when disposed off in landfills, some times for almost 1000 years! If country had a plastic policy, at least there could have been a selection of types of products that are essential for sustaining the activities the products, mainly industrial items which will last for a long time, in stead of consumer items with short usage life. Definitely consumers must not be trusted to adopt recycling of plastic items at their end and proportion of consumer items must be progressively reduced as much as possible. Here is the report that boasts of quantum jump in plastics production through specialized parks across the country.

"All India Plastic Manufacturers Association (AIPMA) expects its under-construction plastic park in Dahej (Gujarat) to be operational in 2016. AIPMA is developing plastic parks across the country in a bid to promote plastic processing industry in the country. "AIPMA plans similar plastic parks in five states namely, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat," said Arvind Mehta, chairman, AIPMA governing council. The Dahej plastic park is coming up over 200 acres of land and is likely to house 150 companies, entailing an investment of around Rs 3,000 crore over the next few years. Together Gujarat and Daman-Silvassa region account for over 50 per cent of the country's polymer processing, and the park is expected to give a boost to this industry in the state. In addition, around 70 per cent of plastic raw material as well as 70 per cent of the plastic processing machinery is produced in Gujarat. According to AIPMA, the apex body and the largest industry association of the plastic industry in India, the plastic industry is poised to make significant contribution to various initiatives of the Union government and is focusing on developing skills and entrepreneurship. AIPMA said in a statement that most of the government initiatives such as Swachcha Bharat, 'More crop per drop of water', 'Housing for all', developing smart cities, cannot be implemented without using plastics and the industry has devised plans to promote its use to help Centre achieve its various goals. Rituraj Gupta, president, AIPMA, said, "The fact is plastic is a material that can be recycled for any number of times with varying end-uses and manufacturing of any product through it consumes less power. Thus, plastic is more environment-friendly." Gupta stated that the per capita consumption of plastic is only 9.7 kg per person in India while the global average is 27 kg. South Korea has the highest per capita plastic consumption of 100 kg per person".

Is it not a paradox that the world is moving towards a new plastics regime where bio-degradable plastics are replacing conventional plastics as most of us know, India is least concerned about the dangers posed by the latter in terms of health concerns and environmental degradation? There does not appear to be any concerted move to invest in developing new plastics from natural sources with high environmental credentials. There are hundreds of universities and research institutions in the country capable of working on plastic materials but they all lack a direction and a national mandate. It is time that government of India comes out with a National Plastics Policy and a dedicated "Mission" to transform the plastic landscape in the country into a more sustainable one, in stead of encouraging expansion of conventional plastics indiscriminately.. 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com