Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today formally dedicated to the nation the Rs 21,500-crore Guru Gobind Singh Refinery in Bhatinda. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Singh said spiraling global oil prices had put severe strain on our import bill. There is a need to rationalise rates.

He said higher refining capacity would enable India to export petroleum products. The Prime Minister said India's oil refining capacity rose three-and-a-half times to 213 million tonne since 1998.

The nine million tonne refinery is a joint venture of HPCL and Mittal Energy.

Billionaire Lakshmi N Mittal, who was present at the function, said capacity of his first downstream oil venture at Bhatinda would be doubled to 18 million tonne in future. Mittal said the nine million tonne a year unit would help in energy security of the country and make Punjab a petrochemical hub.