Uddhav Thackeray proposes new site for oil refinery at Ratnagiri’s Barsu village

Sources in the government said that Thackeray wrote to the PM on January 12, requesting to consider a new site for the project while assuring complete support for the project and its readiness to hand over land immediately after getting clearances from the Centre.

Instead of Nanar, the state has now proposed a land parcel of 13,000 hectare at Barsu village in Ratnagiri for the refinery and a land parcel of 2,144 acre in Nate village for the crude oil terminal.

The CM has justified the new locations stating that “almost 90 per cent land parcel is barren and no displacement of houses/wadis is estimated since the villages are located outside the project area”. He has added that the land parcel is free from all encumbrances and can be used without disturbing the ecological balance.

Thackeray has conveyed to the PM that earlier, the project was proposed at Nanar in Ratnagiri but it could not be executed due to environmental and rehabilitation constraints. Sources in the government said that the Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemical Limited (RRPCL) has reportedly given positive feedback about the new locations.

The facility, which was to come up at Nanar, was cleared by the Centre and state in December 2015 and was to pass through land spread across 17 villages in Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts. It was to come up as a 50:50 joint venture between RRPCL – its investors were Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum – and a partnership between the Saudi-owned Aramco and UAE’s National Oil Company.

The government had initiated the process of the land survey when it was shelved suddenly before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections over “environmental concerns” expressed by the Shiv Sena following opposition from local residents. The Sena, in fact, had made it a condition of its pre-poll alliance with the BJP ahead of the elections.

The debate on the oil refinery project has been revived after Pradhan said that the Maharashtra government has given indications about changing its mind.

“There is hope for the revival of the Nanar refinery project as the Maharashtra government seems to be changing its mind about the project in the Konkan region,” said the Union minister for education, skill development and entrepreneurship at an event in Mumbai on Sunday. He had added that the plan is to reduce the size of the project and build it in Konkan.

Pradhan was in conversation with Loksatta Editor Girish Kuber at the Loksatta Tarun Tejankit Awards 2021, where awards were given to talented young achievers from different sectors of Maharashtra.