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Govt. remarks on oil refinery misleading: Gehlot

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR, FEB.4. Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Government in the State of trying to mislead the people on the issue of the proposed oil refinery here. After the discovery of oil reserves in western Rajasthan, the State deserved a refinery but that was not valid reason for accusing the Centre of favouring Punjab at the cost of Rajasthan in the location of the project, he said.

"The oil refinery coming up in Bathinda was of the National Democratic Alliance Government's period. The then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, laid the foundation for it when the Akali Government was in power in Punjab. The present Government at the Centre cannot be accused of favouring Punjab,'' Mr.Gehlot said.

"The Rajasthan Chief Minister, who was (then) in the Cabinet of Mr.Vajpayee, did not speak a word against the Centre discriminating Rajasthan in the case of setting up an oil refinery. Strangely now she talks about the injustice in locating the oil refinery at a place where there are no oil reserves. In fact, the Bathinda refinery is meant to process the crude brought through pipeline from Mudra in Gujarat,'' Mr.Gehlot observed.

Mr.Gehlot, who said he was speaking to allay misgivings created in this regard in the State of late, noted that it was for the State Government to vigorously pursue the matter with Hindustan Petroleum Company Limited or other oil companies. "All the political parties in the State are keen that Rajasthan gets a refinery. If we can offer better incentives the oil companies would consider the proposal,'' he noted.

The previous Congress Government in Rajasthan had two-three meetings with the Scottish oil exploring company, Cairns which struck oil in western Rajasthan. The State suggested setting up a refinery in Barmer to make use of the locally available crude. "They had agreed on principle, with the condition that they would set up a refinery if there were adequate reserves,'' Mr.Gehlot said.

"In fact we extended the PEL (Petroleum exploration licence) to Cairns taking into account the potential for a refinery and also appreciating the fact that in the past 50 years despite efforts by ONGC and OIL, they were the only ones who could trace commercially viable reserves in Rajasthan,'' Mr.Gehlot revealed.

"It is a strange Government we have here,'' Mr.Gehlot, who is the general secretary of the Congress, said pointing to the reported statement of the Rajasthan Minister for Forests that the State would not allow the Mudra-Bathinda pipeline to pass through. At present three pipelines - Kandla (Mudra)-Bathinda product line, Salaya Mathura crude pipeline and Jamnagar Loni LPG pipeline -- are slated to pass through Rajasthan.

"The Chief Minister does not seem to study the files before she makes statements on issues,'' Mr.Gehlot said. "Last year she had made the Rajasthan Assembly pass a unanimous resolution against the Punjab Assembly's decision not share river waters with the neighbouring States. However, she left the matter at it and never took up the issue neither with Punjab nor with the Supreme Court,'' he pointed out.

As for the Cairns proposal, Mr.Gehlot said he did not hear anything about it of late. "Perhaps the State should discuss the matter with Cairns and other companies like Indian Oil Corporation to which the newly found crude from Rajasthan is said to be going,'' Mr.Gehlot said.

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