Rajasthan Refinery Project At Barmer Reaches 60 Per Cent Progress, Union Minister Puri Terms It As ‘Jewel Of Desert’

The greenfield refinery cum petrochemical complex at Pachpadra in the Barmer district of Rajasthan has reached 60 per cent progress.

It is being set up by a joint venture company HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Limited (HRRL) of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Government of Rajasthan having a stake of 74 per cent and 26 per cent respectively. 

The project was conceived in 2008 and was initially approved in 2013. It was reconfigured and work commenced in 2018.

HRRL will process 9 Million Metric Tonne Per Annum (MMTPA) of crude and produce more than 2.4 million tons of petrochemicals which will reduce import bill on account of petrochemicals.

“This project will act as an anchor industry for industrial hubs not only for the western Rajasthan but also will steer India to its vision of achieving 450 MMTPA refining capacity by 2030,” Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep S Puri said.

“Barmer refinery will be the Jewel of the Desert, bringing jobs, opportunities and joy to the people of Rajasthan,” he added.

Current imports are in a tune of Rs 95,000 crore, the complex post commission shall reduce the import bill by Rs 26,000 crore. Further, the exports of the products to a tune of about Rs 12,250 crore from the refinery shall earn valuable foreign exchange.

Underlining the socio-economic benefits of the project in terms of employment generation and infrastructure development, the Minister said that the project has engaged about 35,000 workers in and around the complex. Further, about 1,00,000 workers are engaged indirectly. 

The project site is spread across 4,812 acres comprising villages of Sajjiyali, Roopji, Kanthavad, and Sambhara, in the Pachpadra Tehsil of the Barmer district in Rajasthan.

The Refinery will also be connected with the proposed 70 km long crude pipeline from the Mangla Processing Terminal (MPT) and a 60 km-long natural gas pipeline from the Raageshwari Gas Terminal (RGT).

The product output from the Refinery will conform to the advanced BS-VI emission norms.

Foundation for an industrial boom in Rajasthan

HRRL, Rajasthan’s first refinery project, is also expected to give a boost to industrial development in the region.

During the construction phase the project will lead to growth of construction industry, mechanical fabrication shops, machining and assembly units, supply of heavy equipment like cranes, trailers, JCB etc, transportation and hospitality industry, automotive spares and services and sand blasting and painting shops etc.

Also, petrochemical downstream small-scale industries shall develop using petrochemical feedstock from HRRL like, injection moulding: for furniture, crockery, storage tanks, bulk containers; auto moulding, packaging, medical equipment etc.; blow moulding: for making containers etc.; rotomoulding:  water tanks, containers, etc.; films:  cement bags, wrapping material, adhesive tapes, etc. and others: tyres, pharmaceuticals, detergents, perfumes, inks, nail polish, paint thinners etc.

In addition, the refinery project would lead to development of major downstream industries like chemical, petrochemical and plant equipment manufacturing.

It must be noted that HRRL will produce ‘butadiene,’ which is the raw material to manufacture rubber, which is largely used in the tyre industry.

This will provide impetus to the automotive industry. Currently India is importing around 300 KTPA of synthetic rubber. With the availability of the key raw material, butadiene, there is significant scope of reduction in import dependency in synthetic rubber.

As India is poised for a high growth trajectory in the automotive industry, butadiene will play a catalytic role in this segment.