Oil & Natural gas Corporation(ONGC) could invest about Rs 12,000 crore to built a six million tonne refinery in Rajasthan, as the Congress government in the state is willing to provide adequate fiscal incentives to the refinery. The refinery will initially process crude from the Cairn India-operated Barmer oil field in the state, which is at presented processed outside the state by various refineries. Cairn India and ONGC are 70:30 partners in the field. “The project could be announced after its feasibility is finalised,” a senior official in the government said, adding that the Rajasthan government was ready to provide adequate benefits and the Centre is more than willing.
The development was also confirmed by oil minister Murli Deora in the Rajya Sabha. “ONGC is in consultation with the government of Rajasthan on feasibility of setting up a refinery at Barmer,” he said. The previous BJP government in the state had refused to give concessions to ONGC for setting up the refinery as sops sought were more than double the project cost. After the BJP-led government in Rajasthan was replaced by the Congress regime, the project has gathered some urgency. Rajasthan government had even appointed a committee to explore the idea after Cairn and its 30% partner in the Barmer oil field Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) had shelved their plan to construct a well-head refinery.
The development was also confirmed by oil minister Murli Deora in the Rajya Sabha. “ONGC is in consultation with the government of Rajasthan on feasibility of setting up a refinery at Barmer,” he said. The previous BJP government in the state had refused to give concessions to ONGC for setting up the refinery as sops sought were more than double the project cost. After the BJP-led government in Rajasthan was replaced by the Congress regime, the project has gathered some urgency. Rajasthan government had even appointed a committee to explore the idea after Cairn and its 30% partner in the Barmer oil field Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) had shelved their plan to construct a well-head refinery.
Already the process has delayed much. The appropriate place to setup refinery is actually is Salawas near Jodhpur. Due to border nearby Barmer the place at Salawas can be better option. At Salawas even the imported crude through pipeline from Kandla port can be refine to be adequate supplied in north and east part of country/state.
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