Centre-Sponsored 10 Plastic Parks Poised To Spur Exports; More Jobs

New Delhi: The Centre’s Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals has approved 10 Plastic Parks, which are at different levels of implementation across various states, aimed at enhancing investment, production and exports as well as employment in the country, according to a year-end review released on Tuesday.

The new and safer pesticides developed by the Centre’s Institute of Pesticide Formulation Tech-nology (IPFT) and the successful India Chem-2024 conference also figure in the review.

Under the scheme for setting up Plastic Parks, the Department promotes the setting up of need-based plastic parks with requisite infrastructure and enabling common facilities. The objective is to consolidate and synergize the capacities of downstream plastic processing industries.

The new scheme for petrochemicals also includes a scheme for setting up Centres of Excellence and the Petrochemicals Research & Innovation Commendation Scheme.

With regard to Centres of Excellence (CoEs), the objective is to provide grants-in-aid to educational and research institutions to improve existing technology and promote the development of new applications. The emphasis of the Scheme is on the modernization and upgradation of exist-ing manufacturing processes as well as improving the quality of products. 18 CoEs have been ap-proved so far, according to the official statement. Under the Petrochemicals Research & Innovation Commendation Scheme, the government felicitates meritorious innovations and inventions in the field of petrochemicals, products, pro-cesses and other related areas. The scheme seeks to improve research and development in the petrochemical sector, leading to more efficient energy consumption, plastic waste management, and the development of new products. The other major achievements listed for the year include the development of new and safer insec-ticides by the Gurugram-based Institute of Pesticide Formulation Technology (IPFT). These in-clude the insecticide Thiomethoxam & fungicide Hexaconazole combination gel formulation for seed treatment. The formulation effectively protects the seeds and seedlings from insects and fungal pathogens.

IPFT has also developed a safer and more effective soluble concentrate formulation of Insecti-cide Monocrotophos.

The conventional soluble concentrate poses the risk of accidental or intentional poisoning and leads to toxic residues in crop produce. A safer & effective formulation has been developed with emetics to minimize the risk of poisoning. The developed formulation contains a blend of adjuvants to provide higher efficacy with a dose reduction of up to 40 per cent, thus controlling the target pests at lower doses, thereby minimising the risk of toxic residues in crop products.