Fire at Rajasthan Refinery Before PM Modi Inauguration, Programme Postponed

A major fire broke out near the crude distillation unit of the HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Ltd (HRRL) at Pachpadra in Rajasthan’s Balotra district on Monday, a day before its scheduled inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Thick black smoke was seen rising from the site as the blaze spread near the refinery’s main processing unit, often referred to as its core. Officials said the fire was brought under control in about two hours and no casualties were reported.Following the incident, the Prime Minister’s programme to dedicate the refinery to the nation on April 21 was postponed.The Union Petroleum Ministry, in a post on X, said, "Due to an unfortunate fire incident today in the vicinity of the Crude Distillation Unit at the HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Limited

(HRRL) refinery, the scheduled dedication of the refinery by the Prime Minister on 21.04.2026 has been postponed. The fire has been brought under control. There are no reports of any casualties."It added that a revised date for the inauguration will be announced later and an investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the fire and take corrective measures.In a separate post, HPCL said, "An unfortunate accident occurred today at around 1.55 pm at HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Ltd. (HRRL) at Pachpadra, Balotra. There was a fire in the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) section of the refinery complex. Prima facie, it appears that leakage of hydrocarbons through one of the valves/flanges in the heat exchanger circuit caused the fire.

VIDEO | A fire broke out at the Pachpadra refinery in Rajasthan's Balotra district, a day before its inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Fire tenders rushed to the spot and efforts were underway to douse the flames. No immediate reports of casualties available. More… pic.twitter.com/eT2xD4vsB4

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 20, 2026

"The fire was promptly brought under control by the emergency response team of HRRL with support from the local Administration. There is no loss of life or injury to any personnel."The fire was localized in the heat exchangers stack. Crude Distillation Unit (CDU), Vacuum Distillation Unit (VDU), and all other Units of the CDU section were quickly isolated. All are structurally safe and unaffected. No other section of the refinery has suffered any impact. The cause of this fire and its impact on the Unit are being assessed and investigated by a team of internal and external experts."

The ministry later said a high-level committee comprising external experts has been set up to assess the cause of the incident and recommend remedial steps.Refinery projects are particularly vulnerable to fire risks during commissioning and start-up phases due to the introduction of hydrocarbons into high-pressure and high-temperature systems.This is not the first such incident. A major fire had broken out at Indian Oil Corporation’s Paradip refinery in January 2016, days before its inauguration, though no injuries were reported in that case as well.The Pachpadra refinery, built at a cost of over Rs 79,450 crore, is a 9 million tonnes per annum refinery-cum-petrochemical complex and is set to be India’s 24th refinery. It has a Nelson Complexity Index of 17 and is designed to produce fuels such as petrol and diesel along with petrochemicals.The project is a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd, which holds a 74 per cent stake, and the Rajasthan government with 26 per cent. Once operational, it is expected to boost India’s energy security, reduce import dependence and support industrial growth.Opposition leaders in Rajasthan raised concerns over the incident. Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot said the refinery is a matter of pride for the state and called the incident unfortunate. Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully termed the incident “serious and concerning” and alleged lapses in safety arrangements ahead of the planned inauguration.