For the second time in four months, smoke was seen emanating from the Rs 80,000 crore-refinery in Barmer’s Pachpadra on Friday evening, with the Rajasthan Congress alleging that such incidents were taking place due to a “hurried inauguration” of the project by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) officials, however, said that there was no fire but an oil spillage issue.

An HPCL spokesperson said that around 6.45 pm on August 14, “Hydrocarbon oil spillage was observed in the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) at HRRL Refinery. As an immediate precautionary measure, the emergency response system was activated and fire-water sprays were deployed from all directions as per the safety norms. The situation was promptly brought under control by the Refinery team.

देश में श्रेय लेने की होड़ ने पहले भी राष्ट्र के उपक्रमों को नुक़सान पहुंचाया है और आज फिर राष्ट्र के महत्वपूर्ण प्रोजेक्ट HRRL रिफायनरी में आग की घटना घटित हुई है।

प्रधानमंत्री @narendramodi जी के दौरे की जल्दबाजी की वजह से तकनीकी ख़ामियाँ इस उपक्रम में रोज़ नई समस्याएँ पैदा… pic.twitter.com/IOgkYpSemd

— Harish Chaudhary (@Barmer_Harish) August 14, 2026

“There was no fire, no injuries to personnel and no damage to the property. The situation is fully under control, and all necessary safety measures are in place,” the spokesperson said, adding that “The information spread in the media is factually inaccurate.”

Meanwhile, Congress MLA from Barmer’s Baytu, Harish Choudhary, claimed that the fire was due to haste in refinery’s inauguration.

“The race to take credit in the country has previously harmed the nation’s enterprises, and now again, an incident of fire has occurred in the nation’s important project, the HRRL Refinery. Due to the haste of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji’s visit, technical flaws in this enterprise are creating new problems every day, the consequences of which the country is facing in the form of economic losses,” the AICC in-charge for Madhya Pradesh said.

“The refinery management needs to take a decision in this regard soon for quality checks,” Choudhary said.

The HPCL spokesperson said, “All other Refinery process units are operational with normal production of LPG, Diesel, Petrol and Naphtha. 1,200 Metric Tonnes of LPG was produced and dispatched to market today (August 14) and the production and dispatches are on.”

Fire before inauguration

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Earlier, on April 20, a fire broke out in the CDU section of the refinery complex, with officials saying that prima facie, it appeared that leakage of hydrocarbons through one of the valves/flanges in the heat exchanger circuit had caused the fire.

Subsequently, PM Modi’s scheduled April 21 inauguration was postponed. It eventually took place on July 4.

Developed as a joint venture between HPCL and the Rajasthan government, the 9 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MMTPA) Greenfield Refinery-cum-Petrochemical Complex has been established with an investment of over Rs 79,450 crore.