The process licensor work for Rajasthan’s Barmer oil refinery has been completed with the targets set for progress of infrastructure works before the project is finished by October 2022. The ₹43,129-crore project, which was earlier caught in a political quagmire, has come back to the priority list of the Congress government here.
Additional Chief Secretary (Mines & Petroleum) Subodh Agarwal said on Saturday that the project would have nine refinery and four petrochemical units, for which the basic design engineering work had been completed. A survey has been undertaken for laying the pipelines for crude oil, natural gas and water.
Mr. Agarwal said the project would become operational in March 2023, though some of its works were adversely affected because of the COVID-19 lockdown. As many as 155 purchase orders for ₹20,500 crore worth of construction and other works have been released till July-end.
After the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi laid the project’s foundation stone in 2013, the previous BJP regime stalled it and renegotiated the terms with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated “commencement of work” at the project site in Pachpadra in 2018 and accused the Congress of announcing the project without any clearances or budget allocation.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who criticised Mr. Modi for “re-laying” of the refinery’s foundation stone, has said that this would be a significant industrial project resulting in the establishment of a model oil refinery.
