Mumbai: The State Government has decide to shift the Nanar Refinery project to Raigad district. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday informed the assembly that the government has identified a new site for the refinery project, which was initially planned at Nanar town in Ratnagiri district.
Congress leader Vijay Vadettiwar and Naseem Khan asked a question to the government about the refinery project. “Has the government decided to shift the project to Raigad district and what is the status of the project which was scrapped from Nanar,” asked Vijay Wadettiwar.
While replying to the question raised by the Congress leaders, Fadnavis said the government had identified an alternative site. “The City Industrial and Development Corporation (CIDCO) has already acquired 13,409 hectars of land in 40 villages of Alibaug, Murud, Roha and Shreevardhan in Raigad district for Integrated Industrial Colony,” he said.
“The government had issued a notification in January 2019, citing the acquired land is notified for Integrated Industrial Colony. CIDCO has been appointed as a development authority for the project,” he said.
“While the acquisition of land was in process, nobody from these 40 villages has resisted or demanded any extra benefits,” he said.
Though back in February Fadnavis did not reveal the new location of the project, he did point out that it will now be built at a place where the local population does not oppose it.
The project was initially proposed to be built at Nanar, a village in Ratnagiri district. The cost of the oil refinery is about 44 billion dollars. The state had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Saudi company Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC).
After opposition from farmers, the government scrapped the project and suspended the land acquisition process.
The farmers refused to surrender their land, fearing the proposed plant could damage the region famed for its Alphonso mangoes, vast cashew plantations and fishing hamlets boasting of bountiful catches of seafood.
The 1.2 million barrels per day refinery and associated petrochemical project is offering India steady fuel supplies and meeting Saudi Arabia and ADNOC’s need to secure regular buyers for their oil.
State run companies - Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum - own 50% of the Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPCL), the company that is building the project.
Aramco supplies India with 8 lakh barrels of crude oil every day.
The project had also ignited an ugly feud between the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena alliance. The latter had challenged to shift the refinery complex from the state to Gujarat. Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray had even asked why Vidarbha (eastern Maharashtra) is not being considered for the refinery project, instead of the eco-sensitive and picturesque coastal Konkan region.