Fire Engulfs Pachpadra Refinery Day Before PM Modi's Inauguration

PACHPADRA/JAISALMER/NEW DELHI: A day before PM Narendra Modi was scheduled to inaugurate Pachpadra refinery in Balotra district of Rajasthan, a massive fire engulfed its core processing units around 1:55 pm on Monday, prompting authorities to order a probe. Fire broke out in the vicinity of the crude distillation unit (CDU) at HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Limited (HRRL), ministry of petroleum and natural gas said in a post on X. "An investigation has been initiated to ascertain the cause(s) of the incident and to undertake necessary remedial measures. A revised date for the dedication will be announced in due course," it said. The ministry said the fire was brought under control promptly by the refinery's emergency response team with support from the local administration, and there were no reports of any casualties or injuries. Prima facie, the fire appeared to have been caused by the leakage of hydrocarbons from a valve or flange in the heat exchanger circuit, officials said. They added that the blaze remained localised to the heat exchanger stack within the CDU section. The crude distillation unit, vacuum distillation unit and other associated units were quickly isolated, and all are structurally safe and unaffected. No other part of the refinery complex suffered any impact. Most of the 200-odd workers engaged in the units were having lunch when the fire broke out, said an official at the refinery. "More than 100 fire tenders were deployed to contain the massive blaze. By 2.30 pm, the raging fire was brought under control," said a witness. The HRRL refinery is a joint venture between state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Rajasthan govt, with equity participation of 74 per cent and 26 per cent respectively. The Union cabinet had, earlier this month, approved the cost escalation of the greenfield integrated refinery-petrochemical complex from Rs 43,129 crore to Rs 79,459 crore, and had said commercial operations were likely to start from July 1. The inauguration had been postponed from March 19 to April 21. It could have ended the cost escalation that the project had seen since its foundation stone was first laid by Sonia Gandhi in 2013, and then for a second time by PM Modi in 2018.