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Oil’s well: PM to lay Barmer refinery foundation in Dec

Raje govt is in a war-footing mode to launch the project at the earliest

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CHECK & MATE: Union Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan at the Bharatiya Skill Development University (BSDU).
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi  will lay the foundation stone of Barmer Refinery-cum-Petrochemical complex in December, Union minister for petroleum and natural gas, and skill development and entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan informed  the media while visiting Bharatiya Skill Development University (BSDU) on Friday.

“The refinery project has got environment clearance. We have sought time from the Prime Minister and most likely its foundation will be laid by him next month,” Pradhan said, claiming that India is moving fast in the direction of skill development and Modi himself monitors the schemes under it.

The Raje government is in war-footing mode to launch the project at the earliest. The reason is previous Gehlot government, which claims the refinery its brainchild, had signed an MoU with HPCL (Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited) before the Assembly elections in 2013 but failed to turn into reality.

When Raje came into power, she said that state needed to renegotiate the project. After almost three years of negotiations, the state government signed a new MoU with HPCL in April this year for setting up the complex.

As per the agreement, the HPCL has a 74 per cent stake while the state government holds a 26 per cent stake in the new firm which is called HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Limited (HRRL). The total cost of the project is Rs 43,129 crore. Raje at the time of signing MoU claimed that new agreement led to significant savings of Rs 40,000 crore. Also, the state would receive 12 per cent Return On Investment instead of earlier 2 per cent mentioned in Gehlot’s agreement.

After the MoU, the cordial relations between Raje and Pradhan speeded up the project. Pardhan’s ministry was entrusted to get clearance from ministry of environment which has been done. Modi also gave consent to lay the foundation stone on the request of Raje as well. It will be his second visit to Rajasthan in four months after Udaipur in August. 

The state machinery is also in full swing to prepare for the stone foundation ceremony of the project which will change economics of Rajasthan and  boost employment. “The formalities for the foundation laying ceremony of the refinery are being worked out. The industries department has allotted 4,563 acres of land in Pachpadra to the Rajasthan HPCL limited. The lease deed draft has been finalised by the district collect of Barmer as well,” says a knowledgeable source in the state’s mines and petroleum department.

Factfile

  • After prolonged negotiations that lasted over three years, Rajasthan government on April 19, 2017 signed a revised MoU with HPCL for a 9 million metric tonne crude oil refinery at Barmer that would require investments of Rs 43,129 crore and produce fuels meeting BS-VI specifications.
  • Announcing the details, Union minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan said the deal will save the state Rs 40,000 crore with annual viability gap funding of Rs 1,123 crore for 15 years instead of Rs 3,736 crore as per the previous MoU that former CM Ashok Gehlot signed with HPCL.
  • The super success of Pradhan has made him face of BJP in Odisha also where the saffron party is trying to outperform Naveen Patnaik’s BJD, once an ally of BJP. The state when goes to polls, in every likelihood BJP will try to cash in his achievements and connectivity with masses to triumph in Odisha. 
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