Mangoes to Harrods and technology from the UK

Jamnagar is not one of the most well-known towns in India. For many years it must have been a small settlement surrounded by semi -arid scrubland, existing mainly as a trading place and a stop for travellers around what is now Gujarat state, and with a number of well-preserved 16th century Jain temples. Nestled in the western extremities of the State it is on the Gulf of Kutch, and only some 100 kilometres across the sea to Pakistan.

Today it has changed beyond recognition. The town and its vicinity’s fate and future was transformed when one of India’s largest conglomerates, Reliance Industries, chose the area to build a crude oil refinery at the turn of the century, making the best possible use of the Gulf of Kutch’s comparatively easy access for shipping from the Middle East and beyond.

Jamnagar now stands as not only India’s, but also one of the world’s, largest crude oil refineries by volume. Such was the success of the initial refinery that Reliance built a second in just 3 years, completed shortly after the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008, on an adjacent site. The scale of the operation almost beggars belief. During construction there were over 80,000 employed on the site, and there is now a permanent township for over 14,000 families. The two refineries can process over 1.2M barrels of crude a day, and account for over a third of India’s total supply.

As Mukesh Ambani, chairman of the Group, pointed out to me, one of the most significant aspects of the development from a UK perspective was the major role played by staff from the London office of US contractor Bechtel.  It was in effect the command centre for many aspects of the building of both refineries, and is still involved with developments. During my visit to Jamnagar I was also able to hear of plans for developing further aspects of the refineries, including the use of spent fuel, in which UK technology could play a significant role.

The Jamnagar region may not be the most hospitable in climate terms, with temperatures in May and June soaring into the mid 40’s. But Reliance have done their utmost to ensure that their employees there can live and work in comfort. Their site incorporates apartments and houses far larger than most in Mumbai for all their staff, together with state-of the art facilities like Olympic-sized swimming pools, multiplex cinemas, a well-equipped hospital, and well maintained parks. And in another, more exotic link to the UK, the head of the site’s grounds proudly boasts that mangoes grown within a stone’s throw of the refinery have found their way into Harrods upmarket fruit section in Knightsbridge!

On balance I would opt for the clamour, noise and dust of Mumbai over the more tranquil environs of Jamnagar, swimming pools and mangoes or not. But perched on the edge of some of India’s more extreme weather conditions, Jamnagar is a vivid example of how to develop a site from nothing to a crucial hub for oil in the sub-continent. Throughout the refineries’ sites there are posters displaying Reliance’s proud boast about the value of excellence in its work. There is no shortage of that in Jamnagar.