Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) will set up a naphtha cracker project with an investment of more than Rs 61,000 crore at Paradip soon.

IOCL chairman Arvinder Singh Sahney informed this to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi during a meeting at the Lok Seva Bhawan.

He discussed the progress of various ongoing and upcoming projects of the public sector oil company in Odisha. It was decided that IOCL and the Odisha government will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the naphtha cracker project in January.

The project was a part of the company’s investment proposal of around Rs 1 lakh crore that had received in-principle approval of the state government in August last year. The investment proposals included expansion of its Paradip refinery - from 15 million tonne per annum (MTPA) to 25 MTPA besides the naphtha cracker unit.

The chief minister’s office said the naphtha unit is likely to be one of the largest projects in the sector in the country. The state government is an equity holder in the project and will earn dividend in addition to taxes, the CMO said in a statement.

It was also decided that the foundation for the upcoming yarn project at Bhadrak will be laid in January. The project will come up in Bhandaripokhari textile park at an investment of Rs 4,382 crore in collaboration with leading chemical company MCPI Pvt Ltd.