New Delhi: The government is toying with an idea of setting up a refinery in Rajasthan to process crude oil found by Cairn, a proposal that may result in a three-year delay in starting production and cause a loss of nearly $5 billion (over Rs 20,000 crore) to the exchequer.
Cairn India was set to produce 7.5 million tons from early-2009. But Petroleum Ministry now wants output cut to half and ONGC/MRPL – the official buyers of the crude – to build a 4-million-ton a year refinery.
Even though the Rs 8,000-crore refinery will take at least four years to build, the ministry has withheld approval to build a pipeline to take the crude to refiners in Gujarat.
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