Barmer Refinery, Rajasthan

Introduction: Barmer Refinery

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and the Government of Rajasthan jointly operate the Barmer Refinery, situated in Pachpadra near Balotra, in the Barmer district of Rajasthan, India.

The Barmer Refinery will connect with Jamnagar Refinery and Bathinda Refinery through Amritsar Jamnagar Expressway upon completion in January 2024. It will have the capacity to refine 9 million tonnes per year and have a petrochemical complex capacity of 2 million tonnes per year, making it a potential game changer in India’s oil and gas industry.

Construction and Capacity of Barmer Refinery

Timeline of Construction

On 22 September 2013, Sonia Gandhi, the then-president of the Indian National Congress, laid the foundation stones for the Barmer Refinery project. However, the project did not begin until Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the works on 16 January 2018.

Workers have begun constructing processing units and large industries in an area of 100 sq km near the refinery. The construction will cover 4,400.4 acres of land.

Capacity

The Barmer Refinery project has a planned capacity of 9 million tonnes per annum (MMTPA) of refining capacity and 2 MMTPA of petrochemical complex capacity.

Facility Design

The designers of the Barmer Refinery have employed the most advanced technologies and process units to guarantee optimal efficiency and environmental safety.

Process Units

The facility will have 29 process units, including

9 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) crude distillation unit
4.8 MMTPA vacuum distillation unit
1.8 MMTPA naphtha hydrotreater unit and
4.1 MMTPA diesel hydrotreater unit
Delayed coker unit with a capacity of 2.4 MMTPA
vacuum gas oil hydrotreater with a capacity of 3.5 MMTPA
fluidized catalytic cracking unit of 2.9 MMTPA

The facility will also have an isomerization unit, a dual-feed cracker unit, an ethylene recovery unit, two polyethylene units, and two polypropylene units.

Technology

The polypropylene units will use Lummus’ Novolen process reactors and Novolen high-performance catalyst.

Contractors

The contractors who were selected for various units were:

Petro Fluidised Catalytic Cracking Unit – L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering;
Dual Feed Cracker Unit – L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering;
Crude and Vacuum distillation unit (CDU-VDU) – Tata Projects;
Delayed coker unit with unsaturated LPG treating unit – Tata Projects;
Vacuum gas oil hydrotreating unit – Tata Projects

Investment and Financing

In January 2019, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and the Government of Rajasthan announced the Barmer Refinery joint venture. HPCL owns 74% of the stakes while the Government of Rajasthan owns the remaining 26%. The project is worth ₹43,129 crores (US$5.4 billion) and a joint consortium of lenders, led by the State Bank of India, arranged around 66% of the finances (worth ₹28,753 crores (US$3.6 billion)). However, in 2023, the estimated investment had nearly doubled and increased to ₹72,000 crore (US$9.0 billion).

Employment Opportunities

The Barmer Refinery is expected to create substantial employment opportunities, both through direct and indirect means. According to HPCL managing director M. K. Surana, the project will employ 40,000 people directly and 60,000 people indirectly. Local people will be given priority in employment opportunities. Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation has pledged to invest ₹1 lakh crore (US$122 billion) in the Barmer Refinery.

Benefits of the Barmer Refinery Project

The project will produce multiple advantages for Rajasthan and India, including:

Creating direct and indirect employment opportunities for about 40,000 people during construction and about 1,000 people during operation.
Boosting the industrial development and economic growth of Rajasthan by attracting downstream industries and ancillary units in the hub of the petrochemical near the refinery.
Enhancing the energy security and self-reliance of India by reducing the dependence on imported petroleum products.
Contributing to social welfare and environmental protection by adopting state-of-the-art technologies and best practices for energy efficiency, water conservation, and emission reduction.

Conclusion

The Barmer Refinery aims to enhance India’s energy security and reduce its dependence on imported crude oil by utilizing modern technologies and processes that ensure maximum efficiency and environmental safety. It will have a refining capacity of 9 million metric tonnes per annum and a petrochemical complex capacity of 2 million metric tonnes per annum. The refinery is expected to produce numerous employment opportunities both directly and indirectly.

However, the refinery has faced delays in construction due to several factors, including land acquisition issues, environmental concerns, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The government is actively progressing the project despite the challenges and remains committed to completing it within the planned timeline. The Barmer Refinery, once operational, will significantly contribute to India’s energy security and economic growth.