Fire At US$8.5 Billion Refinery Delays Inauguration By Indian PM

By Shakir Husain

HYDERABAD, April 21 (Bernama) -- The inauguration of a 794.6 billion rupees (US$8.5 billion) refinery and petrochemical complex in northwestern India has been delayed following a fire.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to inaugurate the HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Limited (HRRL) project, in which state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited holds a 74 per cent stake, at Pachpadra in the state of Rajasthan on Tuesday.

However, a fire broke out on Monday in its crude distillation unit section.

"Prima facie, it appears that leakage of hydrocarbons through one of the valves/flanges in the heat exchanger circuit caused the fire," Hindustan Petroleum said in a stock market filing on Tuesday.

The scheduled launch by Modi has been postponed "as a precautionary measure," and a new date will be announced in due course, the company said.

"An investigation has been initiated to ascertain the cause of the incident and to undertake necessary remedial measures.

“The financial and operational impact, if any, is being assessed and prima facie is not expected to be material," it said.

-- BERNAMA