Modi to launch 'work commencement' at Barmer refinery

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Tuesday launch what is being described as "work commencement" for one of the country's most modern refineries in Rajasthan's Barmer district -- five years after Sonia Gandhi, then the Congress president, had laid its foundation stone.

The function will be held at 12.30 p.m. in Pachpadra, some 450 km from state capital Jaipur. The Rs 43,000 crore (almost Rs 7 billion) project, once complete in four years, will provide direct and indirect employment to 10,000 persons.

The 9 MMTPA (million metric tonnes per annum) refinery, a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and the Rajasthan government, is the state's first. Its products will conform to BS-VI emission norms.

Meanwhile, the Barmer refinery has been the subject of a political slugfest between the Congress and Rajasthan's ruling BJP.

Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot recently wrote a to the Prime Minister questioning why the refinery's foundation stone was being laid again when this was done way back in 2013.

Soon after this, the invitation cards distributed for the event used the expression "Work Commencement Function".

Gehlot was quick to latch onto this, describing it as a face-saving move for Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia's government.

--IANS

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