The Congress leader claimed that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, his administration had accelerated work on the project, completing more than 80% of the refinery. He accused the BJP of repeatedly stalling progress, first between 2013 and 2018, and again post-2023, which he said had pushed costs from the original ₹37,000 crore to nearly ₹1 lakh crore.Gehlot further argued that had the BJP not halted the project after assuming power in 2013, the cost escalation could have been avoided. “People are rightly asking why work is still dragging despite the so-called double-engine government,” he said.It is worth recalling that the original foundation stone was laid in 2013 by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, with an estimated cost of ₹37,000 crore. In 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi re-laid the foundation stone, by which time the cost had risen to ₹43,000 crore, with a target completion date set for the end of 2022. That deadline was missed, and by 2024, the estimated cost had ballooned to ₹72,000 crore. Currently, while some units are reportedly 90–98% complete, others remain under construction. Officials now aim to commission the plant by March–April 2026.
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