A fire broke out at the Pachpadra Refinery in Balotra on Monday afternoon — just a day before its was set to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A statement from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said Tuesday’s programme has now been postponed and a new date will be announced in due course.
“Due to an unfortunate fire incident today in the vicinity of the Crude Distillation Unit at the HRRL refinery, the scheduled dedication of the refinery by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on 21.04.2026 has been postponed. The fire has been brought under control. There are no reports of any casualties.
An investigation has been initiated to ascertain the cause(s) of the incident and to undertake necessary remedial measures. A revised date for the dedication will be announced in due course,” the statement read.
The affected unit is located about 800 metres from the venue where the PM was expected to address a public gathering. According to initial reports, the incident occurred around 2 pm in the refinery’s Crude Distillation Unit (CDU), where crude oil received through pipelines is processed and distributed to other units.
As soon as smoke was detected, employees activated the fire safety system and promptly evacuated the area. Around 20 fire brigade vehicles were pressed into service to curb the blaze and bring it under control. Officials confirmed that all employees were safely evacuated and no injuries were reported till the filing of this report.
