Jaipur, April 13 (IANS) In view of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to the Pachpadra Refinery in Balotra for its inauguration on April 21, Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma will visit the site on Monday to review preparations for the ceremony.

The CMO officials confirmed that the Chief Minister will arrive at the Pachpadra Refinery in the afternoon to inspect the site. He will assess project progress, security arrangements, the public meeting venue, helipad facilities, and other key preparations from noon to 2 p.m. Senior officials, including Chief Secretary V. Srinivas and Director General of Police Rajiv Sharma, will accompany him.

This will be Prime Minister Modi’s second visit to Rajasthan in the past two months. Earlier, on February 28, he visited Ajmer, where he launched development projects worth over Rs 16,000 crore from the Kayad Rest House and distributed appointment letters to more than 21,000 youths.

The Pachpadra Refinery’s foundation stone was first laid on September 22, 2013, by Sonia Gandhi during the tenure of the Ashok Gehlot-led government in the state, with an initial estimated cost of Rs 37,230 crore. After a change in government, Prime Minister Modi relaunched the project on January 16, 2018, revising the cost to Rs 43,129 crore. The project, originally scheduled for completion by October 31, 2022, saw its cost rise to Rs 72,937 crore by June 2023 under the previous Congress government in the state.

Under the current administration led by Bhajanlal Sharma, a revised proposal submitted on July 24, 2025, further increased the project cost to Rs 79,459 crore. The refinery is a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and the Government of Rajasthan.

The Pachpadra Refinery is being developed as one of the country’s most modern facilities, compliant with BS-6 fuel standards. It integrates both a refinery and a petrochemical complex. A key highlight is its ‘Zero Liquid Effluent Discharge’ system, ensuring that no liquid waste is released during the refining process, marking a significant step toward environmental sustainability. The refinery will have an annual refining capacity of nine million tonnes of crude oil, along with a petrochemical production capacity of two million tonnes.

Out of the total crude requirement, 7.5 million tonnes will be imported from Gulf nations, while around 1.5 million tonnes will be sourced domestically. Built at an estimated cost of around Rs 80,000 crore, the project is expected to generate large-scale employment and boost industrial activity in the region.

To support logistics and freight movement, plans are underway to revive the Balotra-Pachpadra rail link. A new 12-kilometre railway line connecting Balotra to the refinery site will be developed by HRRL, with surveys already completed in recent months.

–IANS

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