The Rs 18,900-crore Guru Gobind Singh Refineries Ltd (GGSRL) being commissioned at Bathinda by a HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd JV is expected to kick-off by 2011. According to GGSRL managing director B S Sant, the project, which will make Bathinda one of the major petrochemical hubs in Asia, is expected to get operational by 2011. Sources in the Punjab government said HPCL had recently given the presentation of the project to the industry department of the state government, in which they had put forth various demands, including waiver of stamp duty for speeding up the execution. The company has asked the government to monitor all development work in an area of 5 km around the refinery by a single state agency for buffer zone. It has also sought assistance from the government for acquisition of retail outlet sites in major cities in the state to access the market for GGSRL's production. State support in getting skilled manpower from various ITIs has also been sought. The total requirement during construction by contractors has been estimated at 2,500 persons. Moreover, the company has asked the state government to allot 100 cares for the construction of township. The company is raising funds through debt and equity mixture for setting up this 9 million metric tonne per annum (mmtpa) refinery. The debt component will be around Rs 11,000 crore. GGSRL has already concluded required loan documents for participation by 25 banks, including Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), for Rs 7,793 crore for the implementation of the project.