Touted as the largest project funded by foreign direct investment (FDI) in Punjab, the Rs 18,900-crore Guru Gobind Singh Oil Refinery, Bathinda refinery being set up in Punjab by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Mittal Energy Limited, a company floated by L N Mittal (HMEL) is likely to be commissioned by 2011.
Official sources in the chief minister?s office told FE that chief executive of HMEL, Prabh Das and chairman of the company, Arun Balakrishnan had called on chief minister Parkash Singh Badal recently to apprise him of the status and had confirmed that more than 40% of the work on the prestigious refinery had already been completed and the project is likely to go into production before schedule in 2011.
CM?s media adviser HS Bains said that the Punjab CM had assured HMEL of total support for early completion and running of the refinery as it was a dream project for the state.
In what could turn out to be a big boost for the industry, the capacity of the Guru Gobind Singh Oil Refinery is being doubled from the initially envisaged 9,000 million metric tonne (MMT) to 18,000 MMT per annum of crude oil to expand the refinery into ?Asia?s biggest Petro-Chemical hub?.
The refinery will be a boon to Rs 5,000-crore poly-propylene based industry and more than 200 units will come up in these ancillary activities with employment potential for over 10,000 youth.