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Pachpadra refinery will be built on time: Rajasthan government
Work on the Rs 43,123-crore refinery at Pachpadra may have stalled due to lockdown, but with a little over two years left to meet the deadline for completion of the project, now there is a race to accelerate construction activities.
Before the Covid outbreak, 3,800 people were working on the site, but as of now the workforce has gone up to 5,000, said an official of the petroleum department after a review meeting of the project. He said the joint venture company HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Ltd (HRRL) has fast-tracked development of various projects of the refinery to make up for the lost time.
“Conscious of the deadline and the lost time due to the lockdown, HRRL has fast-tracked processes for developing key projects of the refinery. The number of people working on the project has actually exceeded 5,000, which was 3,800 before the pandemic broke out. But the number will increase significantly to about 25,000 once the fabrication of the refinery starts in 4-5 months’ time. Similarly, awarding works contracts has been given priority,” said Subodh Agarwal, additional chief secretary, mines and petroleum department.
He said the original deadline of completing the refinery was fixed for October 2022, which now looks within reach, while commercial operation is expected to start from March 2023. “Now, the priority is to meet the deadline and accordingly, we are ensuring that there is no delay in decision making,” Agarwal added.
As per the findings of the review meeting, HRRL has already issued 155 work orders worth Rs 20,000 crore, including four of the 13 processing units, which are at the heart of any refinery. Works worth Rs 4,185 crore have already been completed on ground.
A survey for laying 540km long pipeline from Mandvi port in Gujarat has been completed. As per the plan, HRRL would import 7.5 million tonne Arab mix crude oil which will be stored in a tank at Mandvi from which, it will come to the Pachpadra refinery through the pipeline. Additionally, the 9-million tonne refinery will get 1.5 million tonne crude oil from Rajasthan, mostly from Cairn.
A reservoir for 28 million of gallons daily (MGD) water has been constructed on the refinery site. Currently, it has been connected with 18-km long pipeline to get water from a PHED point for construction. But ultimately, when the refinery becomes operational, water will come from Nachna where HRRL has started construction work for a reservoir.
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