After Nanar, refinery to be shifted to Raigad?

The refinery project alone would require around 6,000 hectares of the proposed township.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday indicated that the ₹3-lakh-crore mega refinery and petrochemical project will be moved to Raigad, after the land acquisition in Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg’s Nanar was scrapped early this year.

The oil refinery, proposed to be built with 50% investment from Saudi Aramco, the state-owned company of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was being touted as the world’s largest refinery, with a capacity of 60-million tonnes an annum, by the state and Central governments. (HT fi;e)

In a written reply to a question raised by legislators from the Opposition benches about the shifting of the project, the CM said that the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) has issued a notification to establish the integrated industrial township, which is likely to house the project. “The township is being set up on 13,409 hectares in 40 villages in Alibaug, Murud, Roha and Shrivardhan tehsils of Raigad district. CIDCO has been appointed as the Township Development Authority. There was no resistance or demands from villagers for the township,” the reply stated.

When asked if the decision has been taken to shift the project, the CM, in a text message, said, “The final decision is yet to be taken.”

A major part of the land for the proposed township is in possession of CIDCO. The refinery project alone would require around 6,000 hectares of the proposed township.

The oil refinery, proposed to be built with 50% investment from Saudi Aramco, the state-owned company of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was being touted as the world’s largest refinery, with a capacity of 60-million tonnes an annum, by the state and Central governments. It was to help in generating direct and indirect employment for around 1.50 lakh people.

After the Jaitapur nuclear power plant, this is the second major project to face obstacles in Konkan region. Both the projects were opposed by locals, who did not want to sell their land over fears of crop and environmental damage.

The Shiv Sena had supported locals in their protests against the refinery project. The Sena put scrapping the project as pre-condition for an alliance for the Lok Sabha elections in February this year. An official from the industries department said, “Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has reportedly taken local politicians from Raigad from all parties into confidence to avoid Nanar-like opposition. However, the first preference for the project is still Nanar, given its geographical position and depth of the sea at the location.”