In a meeting with chemicals and fertilisers minister Suresh Prabhu in Washington earlier this month, IFC officials had expressed interest in participation in the project right from development of the concept to loan syndication and financing of the industrial private sector projects that would be set up in the estates.

The chemicals and pharmaceutical industry in the US has shown keen interest in the chemical industrial estate project, Prabhu apprised the Prime Minister AB Vajpayee of the developments.

The minister said that during the visit to the US, the UK and Switzerland, the Indian delegation held various meetings with the industry and governments where the opportunities to be offered by the chemical estates were explained in details.

In the meeting in Washington, IFC officials pointed out that they had submitted a proposal for alternate feedstock for fertiliser plants including the adoption of the Texaco gasification process as the HBJ pipeline was gradually running out of gas. Prabhu informed them that a seminar on the issue was being organised in Nagpur next month. It was decided to invite IFC managing director Peter Wysee Wockie to the seminar. The delegation led by the minister also succeeded in generating a lot of interest in the forthcoming exhibition-cum-conference India-Chem 2000 to be held in New Delhi in October. A large number of companies in the US, the UK and Switzerland including Pfizer and Dupont assured their participation in the exhibition.

The minister said that the deliberations with the chemical industry in Switzerland were very useful as companies there were unaware about the new developments taking place in the country particularly in pharmaceuticals and speciality chemicals. Prabhu said that in the meeting with the Swiss Federal Minister for Public Economy Pascal Couchepin, several issues were discussed including the release of the money lying with a Swiss bank, paid as advance by NFL to Swiss company Karsan for supply of urea which was not supplied. Couchepin assured that he would take up the issue with the Swiss agency concerned.

In the UK, the Indian delegation had meetings with the industry, industry associations and officials of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The minister said that the DTI strongly supported India-Chem 2000.