News IP | Glory days are back in Rajasthan-Puri

Feb 21,2023

Rajasthan: Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Resources Mr. Hardeep Singh puri has said in the press meet organised by Barmer Refinery that Barmer Refinery will be the "Jewel of the Desert"), bringing jobs, opportunities, and joy to the people of Rajasthan, as per the Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India vision of PM Modi.

A project conceived in 2008 and initially approved in 2013 is now all set to shift to top gear. The project was reconfigured and work commencement was done in 2018 by the Hon'ble Prime 
Minister of India.
The refinery has the capability to locally process the crude produced in the state of Rajasthan.
HRRL would be the most complex integrated Refinery cum Petchem complex, producing about 26% of petchem products right from the beginning. It has a Nelson Complexity Index of 17. It is also highly energy efficient and will be in top quartile energy performance from day-1. HRRL is building the world's largest Polypropylene Unit and Polyethylene swing unit. It makes more than 30 different grades of polymers. The local content in construction is more than 85% promoting Aatmanirbhar Bharat. More than 60% of the project has been completed in spite of the severe setback faced during 2 years of COVID-19 pandemic. To examine in some details,

The refinery complex will process 9 MMTPA of crude and produce more than 2.4 million tons of petrochemicals which will reduce import bills on account of petrochemicals.
This project will act as an anchor industry for an industrial hub not only for eastern Rajasthan but also will steer India to its vision of achieving 450 MMTPA refining capacity by 2030.
There are many other Benefits of the Project:

The project shall bring self-reliance to India in terms of import substitution of petrochemicals
A. Social
1. Employment Generation:
The project has engaged about 35000 workers in and around the complex. Further, about 1,00,000 workers are engaged indirectly.

2. Co-ed School till class 12th catering to about 600 students
The school land has been acquired and the architectural layout has been finalized and the construction has commenced. It is expected to be completed by Dec 2023. This shall be the first school in the vicinity.

3. Hospital - 50 bed
The land has been acquired and the order shall be placed in March 2023 and shall be completed Dec 2023

Current imports are in the tune of Rs 95000 cr, the complex post-commission shall reduce the import bill by Rs 26000 cr. 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 in a high growth trajectory in the Automotive industry, Butadiene will play a catalytic role in this segment. With the Hon'ble PM and Hon'ble Petroleum Minister having a keen eye for Energy related developments and transformation the state of Rajasthan is poised to see positive developments in near future despite not having a double-engine government.