Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma is set to visit the Pachpadra Refinery in Balotra on Monday to oversee arrangements for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming inauguration on April 21. The visit aims to assess project progress, security measures, public meeting venue readiness, helipad facilities, and other essential preparations. Senior officials, including Chief Secretary V. Srinivas and Director General of Police Rajiv Sharma, will accompany him during the inspection.
Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Rajasthan for the refinery’s inauguration marks his second trip to the state in two months. Previously, on February 28, he inaugurated development projects worth over Rs 16,000 crore in Ajmer and distributed appointment letters to more than 21,000 individuals from the Kayad Rest House.
The foundation stone for the Pachpadra Refinery was initially laid on September 22, 2013, by Sonia Gandhi during the Ashok Gehlot-led government’s tenure in the state, with an estimated cost of Rs 37,230 crore. Following a government change, Prime Minister Modi recommenced the project on January 16, 2018, with a revised cost of Rs 43,129 crore. Originally planned for completion by October 31, 2022, the project’s cost escalated to Rs 72,937 crore by June 2023 under the previous Congress government.
Proposed revisions under Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma’s administration on July 24, 2025, have further increased the project cost to Rs 79,459 crore. The refinery, a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and the Government of Rajasthan, is being developed as a state-of-the-art facility meeting BS-6 fuel standards. Notably, it features a ‘Zero Liquid Effluent Discharge’ system to ensure environmental sustainability by preventing liquid waste discharge during refining operations.
With an annual refining capacity of nine million tonnes of crude oil and a petrochemical production capacity of two million tonnes, the refinery is expected to import 7.5 million tonnes of crude oil from Gulf nations and source 1.5 million tonnes domestically. The project, estimated at around Rs 80,000 crore, is anticipated to create significant employment opportunities and enhance industrial activity in the region.
To facilitate logistics and freight movement, plans are in progress to revive the Balotra-Pachpadra rail link, with a new 12-kilometre railway line connecting Balotra to the refinery site being developed by HRRL, following recent survey completions.
