RAS question
Barmer refinery project is a joint venture between:
Correct answer: (C) Rajasthan Govt and HPCL.
The Barmer refinery project, formally the HPCL Rajasthan Refinery project, is a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and the Government of Rajasthan.
Explanation
Barmer Refinery is not a generic oil-company project; it is the HPCL Rajasthan Refinery joint venture. The Directorate of Petroleum, Government of Rajasthan, records that the MoU for the refinery-cum-petrochemical complex was entered between the Government of Rajasthan and HPCL on 18 April 2017. Its project details further specify the equity split as HPCL 74% and GoR 26%. The joint-venture partners are the Rajasthan Government and HPCL. The project supports value addition of petroleum resources through a refinery-cum-petrochemical complex and processes crude from the Barmer oil fields.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) IOC is not a joint-venture partner in the Barmer refinery project; HPCL and the Government of Rajasthan hold the recorded partnership.
- (B) ONGC may be associated with Rajasthan's petroleum sector, but the Barmer refinery joint venture is not between ONGC and HPCL.
- (D) Cairn India and BPCL are not the joint-venture combination for the Barmer refinery project.
Concept
Rajasthan's petroleum-resource development includes the Barmer-Sanchore Basin and downstream value addition. RAS economic geography often links resource locations with the institutions executing major projects.