Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep S Puri on Tuesday claimed that an upcoming petroleum refinery at Pachpadra will be the “Jewel of the Desert” as it will bring jobs opportunities and joy to the people of Rajasthan.

The Greenfield Refinery cum Petrochemical Complex at Pachpadra in the Barmer district is being set up by a joint venture company, HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Limited (HRRL) of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Government of Rajasthan (GOR) having a stake of 74 per cent and 26 per cent respectively.

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The project was conceived in 2008 and was initially approved in 2013. It was reconfigured and work commenced in 2018 by the prime minister of India.

More than 60 per cent of the project has been completed despite the setbacks faced during the two years of COVID 19 pandemic, a PIB release quoted Puri as saying during an interaction with the media at Pachpadra site.

The minister said that the HRRL refinery complex will process nine 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 hub not only for the western Rajasthan but also will steer India to its vision of achieving 450 MMTPA refining capacity by 2030, said the minister.

The project will bring self-reliance to India in terms of import substitution of petrochemicals, he said. 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, he further said.

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

He also mentioned the environmental benefits of the project. A wetland habitat for migratory birds like Demoiselle crane is being developed in the refinery complex. Other works which will benefit the environment include rejuvenation of natural surface water bodies and avenue plantation from Pachpadra to Khed.

When asked about the revenue to be generated from the project, Puri said the total annual contribution of the petroleum sector to the state exchequer shall be about Rs 27,500 crore out of which, contribution by the refinery complex shall be Rs 5,150 crore. Further, the exports of the products to a tune of about Rs 12,250 crore shall earn valuable foreign exchange, he added.

Petchem downstream Small-Scale Industries shall develop using petrochemical feedstock from RRP like, Injection Moulding:  for Furniture, Crockery, Storage tanks, Bulk containers; Auto Molding, 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, Pharmaceutical, Detergents, Perfumes, inks, Nail polish, paint thinners etc.

HRRL will produce Butadiene, which is the raw material to manufacture Rubber, which is largely used in Tyre industry. This will provide impetus to the Automotive industry. Currently India is importing around 300 KTPA 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 in high growth trajectory in the Automotive industry, Butadiene will play a catalytic role in this segment.