Two Burj Khalifas and 15 Eiffel towers could have been built with the material used in the USD 4 billion oil refinery that was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on Saturday.
Burj Khalifa is a skyscraper in Dubai and one of the tallest manmade structures at about 2,700 feet.
Pointing to the massive use of construction material in building the 9 million tonne capacity refinery, an official of the project's co-promoter HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL) said, "Two Burj Khalifas can be set with the amount of concrete and cement which has been used in the refinery."
He further said that iron and steel, which was used in the refinery was 15 times more than what was used in setting up an Eiffel Tower in Paris. "One can construct 15 Eiffel towers with the use of steel and iron we have used in Bathinda refinery," he said.
The Eiffel Tower stands 1,050 feet tall in Paris.
Besides, the HMEL official said, about 2,800 km-long pipe was used in the Bathinda refinery which is equal to distance between Bathinda and Mumbai.
Moreover, 7,000 km of electric cables have been used which are enough to cover a distance from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and back.
The official said several agencies were involved in transporting of three reactors, each weighing 700-800 tonne from Kandla to Bathinda covering a distance of 1,490 km.
"It was a very crucial activity to bring three reactors from Kandla to Bathinda as we coordinated with various agencies like NHAI, Ministry of Surface and Transport, Punjab power utility, PWD department, Irrigation department and it was a massive exercise," he said.
Spread over 2,000 acres of Phullokari village, the Rs 21,500 crore refinery is commissioned by HMEL, a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Mittal Energy Investment Pte Ltd, Singapore – a Lakshmi N Mittal Group Company.