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onstructed within ten years and worth more than Rs 79,000 crore, this is the largest greenfield project that was ever launched in India in recent history.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled India's first-ever greenfield integrated refinery-petrochemical complex on July 4, 2020, in Pachpadra, Balotra district of Rajasthan.
This is being called a landmark achievement in the energy and petrochemical industry of India and has been realized after a very long time of ten years.
A "greenfield" project refers to those projects that are made from scratch, in other words, without expanding any old project. In this regard, it can be said that this is the first project of its kind ever established in India after about ten years of IOCL's Paradip refinery of Odisha.
The refining capacity of 9 million metric tons per annum (MMTPA) and petrochemicals capacity of 2.4 MMTPA have the project over Rs 79,450 crore, one of the largest infrastructure projects in Rajasthan, implemented by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and the Government of Rajasthan. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) has a 74% stake in the establishment of the project nearer to the Barmer oil fields in Rajasthan, saving crude transportation costs. By manufacturing these petrochemical products in India, it will be possible to reduce dependence on importing raw material for manufacturing plastics.
Moreover, it was pointed out that the refinery is technologically very advanced, since it boasts a very high Nelson Complexity Index, being rated 17.0, which in the petroleum industry means that the plant operates in a more efficient way when dealing with the various types of raw petroleum. Its petrochemical capability is claimed to exceed 26%.
The construction of the Pachpadra refinery has been a long journey. This project was initially announced way back in 2013 in the government of the United Progressive Alliance-2 (UPA-2), where Congress leader Sonia Gandhi laid the foundation stone of the plant. The project, however, faced several delays due to rising costs and difficulties in implementation.
The project was later resurrected in 2017 in the state government of Rajasthan led by the BJP, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi being involved in its revival.
The refinery continued to experience problems even after the revival. In the latest development, fire engulfed the premises of the refinery in April 20 of the current year, causing a delay in its commissioning. According to initial findings made by HPCL, the cause of the fire had been the leakage of hydrocarbons from either a valve or flange in the heat exchanger circuit of the facility. The restoration works were completed by May, allowing the refinery to commence commercial operations in June, just before the ceremony for inauguration on Saturday.
Addressing the gathering, PM Modi alluded to the above challenges when he said, "This day proves that BJP-led state governments not only lay foundation stones but ensure their completion through hard work."
In a public rally held at Balotra, Modi spoke about the refinery being indicative of India's development into a prosperous and self-sufficient country. This phrase is known as "Atmanirbhar Bharat," or "self-sufficient India," in the Indian political context.
He stated that the refinery was going to provide immense employment opportunities in the area. He said, "I dedicate a refinery of the country from here today. The people living in this area would get benefits from employment opportunities provided by this refinery. I especially congratulate the youth of Rajasthan."
Modi also got an opportunity to talk about the government's initiatives taken to protect Indian customers from fluctuations in international fuel prices. He stated that even when there was unrest in the world, which may have raised the domestic cooking gas price drastically up to Rs 2,000, the government was successful in ensuring that people could buy LPG cylinders worth Rs 950. He further added that the oil marketing companies incurred losses of around Rs 75,000 crore on petrol and diesel in April and June this year.
The refinery inauguration was only one of several projects that were inaugurated, commissioned, or had the laying of foundation stone for several development projects valued at about Rs 1.06 lakh crore in the state during Modi's tour of Rajasthan.
Some other major projects that were either commissioned or announced during his tour were as follows:
- The Jaipur Metro project Phase II is valued at more than Rs 13,000 crore.
- Churu Sadulpur and Churu Ratangarh railway doubling projects are designed to improve the rail network in the state.
- Jodhpur Ring Road portion, constructed at an expenditure of nearly Rs 740 crore.
- 1,000 MW Bikaner Solar Project of SJVN and 300 MW Karnisar Solar Project of NHPC, dedicated to the nation as a part of India's renewable energy initiative.
- Appointment letters issued to approximately 54,000 new recruits.
In addition to this, Modi had also inaugurated the newly constructed terminal building of the Jodhpur Airport that spreads across a land area of around 23,000 square meters and has a capacity of carrying up to two million passengers per year. Further, Modi also launched a revised version of the UDAN scheme, the Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik scheme, which will be allocated Rs 28,840 crore over the coming ten-year period.
Not only is this refinery important in itself but also due to the fact that the completion of this refinery will go a long way in contributing to the aspirations of India to become a major player in the global oil refineries by the year 2030. This has been stated by the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, who stated that India was ideally situated to play this role, especially given the fact that European refining capacities are dwindling and America has not been able to establish any greenfield refinery of its own in 50 years.
This refinery is also going to be used as a base for setting up a petrochemical and plastic park, where it can promote the establishment of downstream industries and ancillary industries using the raw material generated by the refinery.
