A Reliance official had said on May 5 that the refinery was aiming to start up on June 14 or June 15.

The OCC official, who did not want to be identified, said: "Reliance has written saying that they would be cutting crude on June 23 with product offer in July."

when contacted, a Reliance spokesman refused to comment on the exact start-up date. The refinery complex is estimated to cost $3.4 billion with a capacity of 27 million tonnes per annum.

The spokesman would only say the refinery would be fully commissioned during the second quarter (July-September) of fiscal 1999/2000.

"Unit-wise commissioning process has already begun. The refinery is to be fully commissioned in the second quarter of 1999/2000, well ahead of schedule," the spokesman said. "We had earlier announced it would be the second half of1999/2000."

Reliance's fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31. The Jamnagar complex will include a petrochemical complex, a port, power plants and other related infrastructure.

Reliance has told the OCC that it will produce 450,000 tonnes of diesel in July, of which it will offer 381,000 tonnes for domestic retailing, the OCC official said.

OCC is the state-run planning and monitoring agency for the oil sector and is responsible for fixing the supply plans and imports of oil products.

An industry official said the start-up could be further delayed as a leak in the sub-sea crude pipeline connecting single point moorings to the marine tank farm was still under repair.

The industry official, who requested anonymity, said: "As of today (Monday), crude was not unloaded." He said the crude offloading was originally scheduled for June 9.

The Reliance spokesman declined to comment on whether the sub-sea pipeline was under repair.

The OCC official said Reliance plans to produce 17,000 tonnes ofliquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in July, of which it will offer 12,000 tonnes to the OCC.

Reliance has told the OCC that it planned to produce 46,000 tonnes of LPG; 517,000 tonnes of diesel; and 8,000 tonnes of motor spirit in August, the OCC official said.

In September, it plans to produce 123,000 tonnes of LPG; 627,000 tonnes of diesel and 73,000 tonnes of petrol, he added.

The refinery's commissioning is crucial for India as the country's diesel import plan hinges on its production.

Compared with 11.339 million tonnes of diesel imports in fiscal 1998/99, India's diesel imports were throttled back to an estimated 3.061 million between April and June 1999.