MoU for contentious refinery in Konkan to be signed at Magnetic Maharashtra investor summit

MoUs for affordable housing projects also likely be signed at summit, which begins on Feb 18; govt wants to show investors it is a decision maker

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed for one of the most contentious projects in Maharashtra at the upcoming Magnetic Maharashtra global investors’ summit, which begins on February 18.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and MLA Subash Desai at a curtain-raiser for Magnetic Maharashtra in Nariman Point in January. (HT File Photo)

The mega refinery, which will come up in Ratnagiri district, is expected to bring in an investment of Rs1.45 lakh crore to the state, senior officials said.

Apart from the refinery, MoUs for affordable housing projects will also likely be signed at the three-day summit, which is expected to rake in investments worth around Rs3.5 lakh crore for the state. In all, 44 MoUs are expected to be signed during the conclave, officials said.

Sunil Porwal, additional chief secretary, industries department confirmed that MoUs for affordable housing and for the refinery are going to be signed.

The refinery, proposed at Nanar village, has become a major point of dispute between the ruling allies, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena. Sena MPs and MLAs have opposed the project claiming that it would destroy the ecology of the Konkan belt. Interestingly, it is the Sena’s ministers who hold the state industries and environment department portfolios.

Besides showcasing the various projects planned and being executed by the state, the government wants to communicate at the global platform that they are “decision makers”, Porwal said. “We are going to showcase our projects, and the policies we have formulated. Our aim is to show that we are decision makers, which is clear from the way we are executing various projects in the state.”