Chandigarh, July 4 (IANS) A move by the HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited to get the name of the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery project near Bathinda changed has been rejected by the Punjab government, an official said Sunday.
Denying reports that there was a move to change the name of the refinery from Guru Gobind Singh Refinery project to HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited project, a government spokesman said the earlier name of the refinery, which has been named after 10th Sikh guru, Gobind Singh, will be retained.
Mittal Energy is owned by global steel magnate and billionaire Lakshmi Mittal.
He added that Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Mittal Energy Limited, which were now executing the Rs.18,900-crore project, requested the Punjab government recently to change the name of the project.
‘The request was received by the state government to change its name from Guru Gobind Singh Refinery Limited to HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited. But it has been ensured that the name of the refinery continues to be Guru Gobind Singh Refinery Project,’ the spokesman added.
The project, located near Bathinda, 275 km from here, is expected to be completed by 2011.
HPCL and Mittal Energy Limited are executing the project in a joint venture. Over Rs.11,000 crore has already been spent on it.
A 1,014-km dedicated crude oil pipeline from Mundra port in Gujarat to Bathinda is also being constructed.
