Congress leaders and Akalis both have been claiming credit for bringing the project to region
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service
An incomplete unit adjoining the refinery.
An incomplete unit adjoining the refinery. Tribune photos: Pawan Sharma
Bathinda, October 1
Even as the Congress and the Akalis are waging a credit war for having brought the Bathinda refinery to the region, the project has failed to accelerate growth in the area or generate jobs.
Guru Gobind Singh Refinery spread over 2,200 acres began operations in March 2012. Former Finance Minister Surinder Singla of the Congress claims that it was he who conceived the project in the 1990s. But the Akalis claim credit for pushing the project through.
Both claim that the refinery has triggered unprecedented development in the region. This is far from the truth. It will be quite some time before the refinery will aid growth in the area.
Ancilliary units missing
It was claimed that a number of ancillary units would come up after the refinery started functioning. Not a single unit has come up so far, 18 months after the refinery became operational.
The government has signed MoUs for setting up two firms for manufacturing plastic products. The refinery provides raw material like poly propylene which is used for making plastic furniture and car dashboards. The proposal to develop a "plastic park", where the two firms were to set up base, remains on paper.
The industrial growth centre appears an abandoned piece of land, with a broken boundary wall of a manufacturing unit and wild growth all around. A similar park near the Panipat refinery is growing fast. Raw material from the Bathinda refinery is transported to the manufacturing units there.
Transportation
It was claimed that the transportation of sulphur, petro chemicals and polypropylene would also result in jobs. An estimated 300 trucks ferry such material from the refinery. Deepinder Singh, president of the Bathinda Truck Union, says of these about 100 are owned by local truck operators and the rest by those outside the state.
Real estate
Other than boosting rental business, the refinery has not resulted in new colonies. The rental business is also on the decline with a residential complex of the refinery coming up nearby. Most employees reside in Bathinda and travel more than 40 km daily for work.
Hence, rental business in the city boomed initially. But with house owners adding more floors to put these on rent, this business too has seen a decline.
Pollution
Pollution caused by the refinery is a cause of concern. Already, residents of a Kanakwal village are being shifted to a safe location.
No jobs generated
It was promised that the refinery would boost the local economy, generating jobs for skilled and semi-skilled workers. However, most of the skilled workforce has been recruited from other states. Refinery officials claim that qualified staff is not available locally and that 50 students from polytechnics in Bathinda, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar have been recruited recently. But this number is too less.
The refinery has failed to jack up industrial growth in the region. No ancillairy units have come up. The state government is to blame for choking industrial growth with new taxes. The new industrial policy has been of no help
— Raman Watts, Bathinda Chamber of Commerce and Industry
The Bathinda airport has come up and new train services have been introduced because of the refinery officials. The project has brought work to contractors, transporters, auto-mechanics and electricians
— Spokesman, Industries Department
( Bathinda Refinery, Laxmi Mittal, HPCL, Sukhbir Badal, Harsimrat Badal, Surinder Singla, Pet coke, Petro chemical, Raman Watts, Bathinda Industry, Growth Centre)
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