Story Content

A dedication ceremony for the first greenfield refinery-cum-petrochemical complex in India at Pachpadra, Balotra District, in Rajasthan was scheduled with Prime Minister Narendra Modi but has been postponed following a fire incident in the nearby crude distillation unit.

Immediately, fire tenders (a number of which had already been deployed in the vicinity owing to the scheduled program of PM Modi) were rushed to the rescue of the fire. It required almost two hours to control the fire, which is currently effective, and cooling efforts and safety reviews are underway. The Hans India The fire has been controlled with no casualties reported, and an investigation has been started to determine the cause of the incident. 

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas announced, X: "Since there was a regrettable fire incident today within the premises of the Crude Distillation Unit of the HRRL refinery, the dedication of the refinery by the Honorable Prime Minister, which was slated to be done on 21.04.2026, has been postponed. A new date of the refinery dedication will be announced. 

The incident quickly turned political. The opposition leader in the Rajasthan Assembly, Tika Ram Jully, termed it serious and worrying and a consequence of inattention, saying that the BJP had paralyzed an otherwise significant Congress project, resulting in an increased cost. This, he said, indicates that the work of the refinery is still unfinished and that they are opening it in a hurry to get publicity, but that it is not due to an accident but to the neglect of the government. 

Ashok Gehlot, the former Chief Minister of Rajasthan, described the event as extremely unfortunate, and Congress leader Sachin Pilot appealed to those present on the ground to ensure their safety, labeling the fire as extremely worrying for what would be a long-term and major state project.