Major Fire at Reliance refinery at Jamnagar

A massive fire broke out in a section of the Reliance Industries refinery at Jamnagar this morning. No injuries have been reported and the plant has been evacuated, a senior company official said.

Jamnagar police said that emergency teams rushed to the refinery as soon as the fire alert was sounded at around 1030 hrs IST. Prima facie the fire appeared to have been caused by a spark.

Preliminary reports say that the fire has knocked one of the two hydro cracker units at the plant. The hydro cracker units are used to remove sulphur in refining petroleum - one of the first stages of refining.

Reliance officials told that they are still assessing the damage and the refinery may be shut down from two weeks to one month. Production may halve during this period. Jamnagar is India's biggest refinery producing between 32 and 40 million tonnes of petrol and diesel annually.
It accounts for 24 per cent of India's refining capacity. Production at the plant may fall to 16-17 million tonnes (MT). Current production at the refinery is 32-40 MT.