The HPCL-Rajasthan Refinery Limited, a joint venture company formed on Thursday, will be the most advanced refinery in the country.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation is aiming to complete the project by the end of 2017, with the foundation stone-laying ceremony likely to take place in August/September. UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is expected to lay the foundation stone.

Jaipur: The Pachpadra village in Barmer where the new refinery will come up, will have a separate master plan for regulated development of the region.

State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) has said it might set up the proposed Rs 37,229-crore greenfield refinery-cum-petrochemical complex at Barmer in Rajasthan, not in Lilala, a

Cairn India, on Tuesday, announced that it had made the 26th oil discovery in its Rajasthan block.

The block management committee had approved the exploration work programme for the RJ-ON-90/1 block on February 14 after which Cairn India commenced drilling of its first exploration well, Raageshwari-South-1, on February 25 located in the southern part of the block. “Technical evaluations indicate about 10 metres of gross oil column within Dharvi Dungar formation.

Vedanta group firm Cairn India Tuesday said it has made the 26th oil discovery in its RJ-ON-90/1 block in Rajasthan's Barmer district.

The company will on March 13 sign a MoU with the Rajasthan government for setting up the refinery-cum-petrochemical complex

State-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) plans to invest Rs 37,000 crore in setting up a nine million tonne oil refinery and a petrochemical complex at Barmer in Rajasthan. The company will on March 13 sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Rajasthan government for setting up the refinery-cum-petrochemical complex, a source privy to the development said.

JAIPUR: In what will be the biggest ever investment in the state, the board members of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) approved the Rajasthan government's proposal to set up the 19th oil refinery of the country in Barmer.

"The memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set up the refinery at Barmer will be signed in Jaipur on March 14 in the presence of Union minister of petroleum and natural gas Veerappa Moily," said a delighted state chief minister Ashok Gehlot. Talking to TOI, Gehlot said that the proposed refinery is a landmark achievement for the entire state and it will translate into revolutionary growth. "I immediately called Mr Moily and welcomed the decision," he added.

Hectic Parleys Begin

Jaisalmer: The habitats of thousands of chinkaras, cobras, desert fox, cats and other beasts are likely to be severely affected if the proposed refinery is set up in Lelana area of Barmer, according to the forest department. The HPCL, which will set up the refinery, will be sending a special team to study the eco system of the area in December and prepare a report for the Centre.

"A study has proved that in Balotara and Pali the water has so much fluoride that children there are now being born with twisted bones. In Balotara the water is not even fit for bathing," Justice Bhandari said.

A monitoring committee of the high court recently reported that the state government was discharging sewer water without passing it through water treatment plants. IN fact, some of these plants were of low capacity. The single bench of Justice Bhandari noted that the government saved the Jal Mahal water with the help of a treatment plant, but polluted water was still being discharged into the Kanota Dam. Untreated industrial water was also being discharged into a couple of lakes and dams.

Jaisalmer: Protesting against the acquisition of 4,744 bighas from seven villages for the first phase of Shivkar lignite project, affected farmers under the Legal Mitra Sanstha launched a dharna outside the Barmer district collectorate on Wednesday.

Earlier, the farmers had taken out a silent march from Gandhi Chowk to the collector’s office. The general public too participated against the government’s non-transparent land acquisition policy. The e farmers and Legal Mitra’s secretary Ritesh Sharma submitted a 45-page memorandum to district collector Bhanu Prakash Atru and later sat for the dharna. Sharma claimed that the government on the pretext of public interest is acquiring land according to “its whims and fancies. Sharma said it is not fair to deprive farmers from animal husbandry and agriculture .

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