The very aspiring refinery project of Rajasthan is a surfacing truth these days. The Barmer refinery project is not only going to save Rs. 40,000 crore with a fresh MOU signed by CM Raje, it also appeared as a sheer counter from the Raje govt. to former CM Ashok Gehlot.
In writhing agony, former Rajasthan CM, Ashok Gehlot has come up with new temper tantrums of politics. As always, he is not leaving any stone unturned while defaming this auspicious act. Picking follies from the fortune, he claimed that the Rs. 40,000 crore profit of refinery is half truth.
With his sly statements, he smartly tried to turn the credits on his side saying that the interest free loan was completed during his tenure itself.
While signing the MOU, CM Raje has mentioned that the state would pay an annual amount of Rs. 1123 crore in place of Rs. 3736 crores for coming 15 years. The process will go on to save Rs. 40,000 crore while making the petrochemical complex a reality.
To this, Gehlot has claimed that, “Provision to reduce the interest-free loan amount, which was linked to maintaining minimum commercial production of at least 9-MMTPA of finished products, was already there in the old MoU”.
Gehlot also talked about increased indigenous capacity to 9.1 MMTPA which removed the need of any imports.
Gehlot claimed, “As per the earlier MoU, in case at any time the production/availability of indigenous crude oil in Rajasthan was more than 4.5-MMTPA, the amount of interest free loan by the state government was to be reduced proportionately”.
“Since the indigenous production capacity has now reached 9.1-MMTPA, which means there is no need to import 4.5-MMTPA, the HPCL has agreed to the reduction in interest-free loan from Rs 3736-cr to Rs 1123-cr. What is the Raje-government’s achievement in it? May be if the government had waited a little more, the indigenous production would have further increased and the loan amount would have gone even below Rs 1123-cr.
Conclusion:
However, the point seems valid at the first sight, the Barmer refinery negotiation had much more than this. Paying more to HPCL when Rajasthan was to give its own resources was certainly not a smart deal. After studying the matter with microscopic glances, Raje government managed to filter the unnecessary splurge. From a rational point of view, this is a much better deal than to succumb to the terms of a private company.
