NEW DELHI, Feb 23— Irked by the uncertainty over implementation of the gas cracker project, Assam Government is planning to allow six more months to all the concerned parties to resolve the stalemate before reviewing the project, highly placed official sources told this newspaper. When about six months later, the State Government sits to review the project, one of the options before it would be to axe the gas cracker project. This is partly due to the expert opinion that the project has become unviable, sources said.
This factor was brought to the notice of the Assam Government delegation led by Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, during a presentation on Thursday by the department of Chemicals and Petrochemical. Promised in the Assam Accord as part of the measures for economic revival of the State, the multi-crore project suffered lime and cost overrun.
Meanwhile, sources said although it was decided that all pending issues including feed stock availability, signing of the Gas Supply Agreement (GSA) are to be finalised within the next four months. The State Government may wait for another six months before taking a final view on the project. At the same time, Assam Government has indicated to the Petroleum and Chemical Ministries that a fresh process of identifying new partners to execute the project should also be initiated. The Government of Assam, meanwhile, would hold discussion with the Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) to ascertain its stand on the latest cost estimate of the project.