Jaipur: Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating the Rising Rajasthan Investment Summit on Monday, former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has urged him to issue necessary approvals involving Barmer Refinery so that commercial operations can start as soon as possible.
He apprehended that people in Rajasthan would lose out employment opportunities as many industries will be forced to shift to other states due to unnecessary delays by the state government.
Talking to the media in Jaipur today, Gehlot said, "PM Modi is coming to Jaipur for the Rising Rajasthan Investment Summit and in the interest of Rajasthan, I request him to direct the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to grant all the permissions related to Barmer Refinery and start operations at the petrochemical complex."
Gehlot said when he held a progress review meeting of the work at Barmer Refinery on June 2, 2023, the refinery administration had assured to start commercial production from December 31, 2024. But the present situation confirms that the work will not be completed within this deadline, he said. "The Petroleum Chemicals and Petro Investment Region (PC-PIR) was to be developed between Barmer and Jodhpur to boost industry growth as many ancillary industries were to be set up," he added.
The former CM further alleged that the Barmer Refinery work got stalled after the BJP-led government came to power. "Our government had taken the work forward by allocating land in 2021 itself, but after the new BJP government came, the work of PC-PIR has come to a complete standstill. Despite the so-called 'double engine' government, the Government of India has still kept the necessary permissions for PC-PIR pending. Due to this, even after the refinery starts, all these by-products will be processed in other states. Thus, 1.5 lakh new jobs that were expected from PC-PIR, now seems to be jeopardised," he said.
Recalling the history of the refinery, Gehlot said that people have not forgotten that during the tenure of the previous BJP government, the refinery work was kept pending for five years. Due to which, its construction cost almost doubled from Rs 40,000 crore and unnecessary financial burden was put on the state government. Now due to unnecessary delay in the work of PC-PIR, the industries set up here will go to other states thereby ending opportunities that were available to the youths here.
He also took a dig at the investment summit saying it helps in garnering only 10-12 percent investments. "Every government makes efforts to bring investment but how many projects actually get finalised after such events is what is important. Such events were held during the previous government and similar efforts were made to bring investment. Be it Rajasthan, Gujarat or Uttar Pradesh, no state has recorded more than 10 percent investment because the industrialists keep many things in mind while investing," he added.
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