Decks cleared for Bathinda refinery
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 9 — Decks were cleared for the setting up of a refinery at Bathinda today with the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approving the joint venture project between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and the Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation today.

The refinery with an annual capacity of nine million tonnes and associated facilities is estimated to cost Rs 9806 crore, including a foreign exchange component of Rs 3219 crore at June 1998 prices. The estimated cost of the project is much less than the Rs 16,000 crore announced by the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, here on November 4.

HPCL’s equity contribution in the joint venture is proposed at Rs 1020 crore. An official spokesman said the project on completion will augment the availability of petroleum products in the country especially in the northern region.

The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of the project on November 13.

The refinery is planned to be commissioned in 2003-2004. Even with the commissioning of the refinery, the product deficit in the country is projected at 21.4 million tonnes per annum in 2006-07.

The CCEA’s clearance came after the Environment Ministry earlier completed the environment appraisal of the project.

The setting up of the mega project at Phulo Kari village in Bathinda district is a step forward for the state as the only other project of this size in the state is Bhakra Nangal dam.

The major facilities envisaged in the project include apart from the nine MMTPA grassroot refinery, a 1006 km crude oil pipeline from Bathinda to Mundra in Gujarat, crude import facilities, including single-point mooring (SPM) facilities and a crude oil terminal.

The Punjab refinery will be third major refinery in the northern region. There are only two refineries of 14 MMTPA capacity-one at Mathura (8 MMTPA) and the Panipat refinery (6 MMTPA). The Panipat refinery expansion by 3 MMTPA is being proposed for the first stage approval and is likely to be commissioned earliest by 2003-2004. To partly meet this abnormally huge gap in supply and demand in the northern region, supplies from the Punjab refinery would be critical and important for the region.

The two joint venture partners, HPCL and the PSIDC, are contributing 26 per cent of equity each and the balance equity would be sought from the public, Financial institutions, foreign institutional investors, NRIs etc.