Bhubaneswar, May 25: Minister of state for labour Chandrasekhar Sahu today said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would re-lay the foundation stone for Indian Oil?s (IOC) Rs 47,000-crore mega project at Paradip, but not all were willing to fall for the announcement.

A senior IOC official from Delhi expressed doubt about the quantum of investment claimed by the minister as well as the re-laying part. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had laid the foundation stone for the refinery-cum-petrochemicals project in July 2000.

?We had earlier planned to instal a 9-million-tonne fuel refinery. Later, considering the demand for fuels and petrochemical products, the capacity was jacked up (to 15,000 million tonnes). The oil board cleared the Rs 25,000-crore project just two months ago. I don?t see the project cost doubling so soon,? said the IOC official.

He also seemed unaware of the ?decision? to re-lay the foundation stone. ?No one is aware of such things,? the official held.

Addressing reporters here today, Sahu said he met Singh and petroleum minister Murli Deora recently to discuss the project. ?I requested the Prime Minister to re-lay the stone. He agreed to my request and would decide on a date soon,? the minister claimed.

After the stone-laying in 2000, the project ran into rough weather as the Orissa government rejected IOC?s request for tax benefits. Later in 2004, however, the state changes its mind.

Besides the refinery, the project would also feature facilities for production of front-end petrochemicals and a pipeline to Ranchi.