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” (रेगिस्तान का नगीना), 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
4. Infrastructure:
Roads for the Villages in the vicinity – The kuccha road was converted to the asphalted road for the village of Sambhra.
B. Environmental:
5. Development of wetland habitat for migratory birds like Demoiselle crane – A study has been conducted by J N Vyas university. Post their recommendations the same shall be taken up for implementation.
6. Rejuvenation of natural surface water bodies – The work has been given to state watershed management department on deposit work basis.
7. Plantation – Avenue Plantation work has started from Pachpadra to Khed. Further, study by AFRI is being conducted for the desert lands in the complex to convert the same into a green belt considering the high salt content in the land. Once the recommendations are received the plantation shall be carried out with the help of the Forest department under deposit works.
C. Economic
8. Revenue to Government
The total annual contribution of the Petroleum sector to the state exchequer shall be about Rs 27500 cr out of which, contribution by the refinery complex shall be Rs 5150 cr. Further, the exports of the products to a tune of about Rs 12250 cr shall earn valuable foreign exchange.
9. Impetus Government Initiatives:
Complex Petrochemicals products will extend support to various Govt initiatives like AMRUT 2.0, Digitalisation, Jal Jeevan Mission etc.
D. Industrial development:
1. Construction, fabrication, and hospitality industry during the construction phase
• 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
• Sandblasting and painting shop
2. Development of Petchem downstream Small-Scale Industries 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.
• Roto holding: water tanks, containers, etc.
• Films : Cement bags, wrapping material, adhesive tapes, etc.
• Others: Tyres, Pharmaceutical, Detergents, Perfumes, inks, Nail polish, paint
thinners etc.
3. Development of Major downstream industries like chemical, petrochemical & plant equipment manufacturing
E. Petrochemical Import Substitution:
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.