Capt wants Centre to redraw refinery terms

Buoyed by the Supreme Court judgement on privatisation of oil PSUs, Punjab has again asked the Centre to re-negotiate the terms and conditio...

Buoyed by the Supreme Court judgement on privatisation of oil PSUs, Punjab has again asked the Centre to re-negotiate the terms and conditions of the ‘‘shelved’’ Bathinda oil refinery project in case it settles for its takeover by the Hindustan petroleum (HPCL).

In a statement, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, said that ‘‘the recent (Supreme Court) judgement is a pointer that the Bathinda refinery would now be taken over by the HPCL, which earlier seemed to be a remote possibility.’’

The Rs 9,806-crore refinery with 117 million capacity was promised as part of the political package — the ‘‘Punjab accord’’— signed by then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and Akali leader Sant Singh Longowal in 1980. However, the refinery never took off even after its approval in 1989 as it was considered unviable from the very beginning.

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Amarinder’s government has been denouncing the project as a ‘‘money loser’’ as earlier Akali government had agreed on sops in terms of tax relief for the bidder. Hitting out at his predecessor and Akali leader Parkash Singh Badal, Amarinder said: ‘‘The earlier terms and conditions, including the waiver of sales tax to the tune of Rs 15,000 crore for 12 years, as agreed by then chief minister Badal are not acceptable to the present government.’’

Asking the Centre to rework the deal, Amarinder said: ‘‘Setting up the refinery makes sense if it’s beneficial to the state and not when it stands to lose Rs 700-1,200 crore annually in excise and sales tax revenues.’’