This was announced by the Union chemical and fertiliser minister Suresh Prabhu at an open house meet on investment opportunities in West Bengal for the visiting Japanese corporate house representatives. The Japanese are here in the town on the occasion of the Mitsubishi PTA plant at Haldia. Prabhu said that the comprehensive chemical estates will have integrated facilities and would be based near the coast. There will be a refinery at the centre of activity and it can be surrounded by petrochemical, fertiliser and other chemical plants.

"The Union government will be investing some amount of money for creating the infrastructure, for which global tenders will be placed. We would allow foreign direct investments in these estates. Altogether the investment would be in the range of a few billion dollars," Prabhu told reporters after the meeting.

However, the Union government has not decided on the location of the estates. According to Prabhu, a high level multi disciplinary committee is studying all the opportunities and will submit its report within the next three months.

"All the coastal states will have an opportunity and we have not zeroed in on any state. It will be decided by the high level committee. The estate will have all the necessary environmental clearances and may have an integrated pollution control mechanism too," he said. The minister also said that these sort of comprehensive chemical estates are the secret behind the success of chemical industries in other parts of the world.

The Union government is also considering to set up research and development parks in different parts of the country. "Foreign direct investment would be allowed for these parks. It can be sector specific like drugs and pharmaceuticals, chemicals and other sectors," Prabhu added.