Key Points

While Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma jointly inaugurated the control room of the mega project on Sunday, former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has raised questions over the government’s silence on the refinery’s production start date.

Taking to the social media platform X, Gehlot pointed out that in the 2025-26 Rajasthan Budget (Announcement No. 158), the BJP government had committed that the refinery would begin production from August 2025. However, neither the Chief Minister nor the Union Minister mentioned any specific date in their speeches or in the government’s official press note.

“This surprising silence is creating doubts in the minds of the people,” Gehlot said.

The senior Congress leader further alleged that despite more than 80 per cent of the work being completed during the previous Congress government, repeated delays under the BJP rule had pushed the project cost from Rs 37,000 crore to nearly Rs one lakh crore.

He asked why the refinery work was still going slowly despite what the BJP calls a “double engine government”.

Gehlot said that the foundation stone was laid in 2013. "Had its work not been stopped after the change of government, then its cost would not have increased so much. The people of Rajasthan are asking why the refinery work is going slowly despite the double-engine government," he questioned on X.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Puri has indicated that the refinery may be launched around Diwali this year, assuring that the Centre, state, and HPCL are committed to timely completion.

Officials suggest that most refinery units are over 90 per cent complete. The refinery project, already delayed by nearly three years, remains one of Rajasthan’s most closely watched development projects -- caught between promises, rising costs, and political crossfire.

- IANS