BIZ-RATNAGIRI-REFINERY

Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals

(RRPCL), which is setting up the ambitious Nanar refinery

project, hopes to commence physical work in January 2020

despite protests by the farmers and the Shiv Sena's strong

opposition to the world's largest refinery project.

The statement assumes importance as the BJP-run state

government had in November ordered a halt on land acquisition

for the project, in view of the increasing protest by the

locals-- farmers and fishermen, who will be losing their

livelihood and the rising support they are getting from the

ruling party ally Shiv Sena and other Opposition parties.

The 60-million tonne per annum refinery-cum-

petrochemical complex is estimated to cost of Rs 3 trillion,

and will come up in over 15,000 acres in Ratnagiri and

Sindhudurg districts of the Konkan region of Maharashtra.

The project, to come up at Babulwadi village, would be

the world's largest green-field refinery-cum-petrochemical

complex when commissioned and would require 15,000 acres,

which need to be acquired from farmers.

State-owned oil refiners--IndianOil Corporation, the

ONGC-owned Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum--jointly

own 50 percent in the project, while Saudi Aramco and Abu

Dhabi National Oil Company own the rest of equity.

"The company has already received consent from 30-40

percent of the locals and the work will be completed as per

schedule in 2025," RRPCL chief executive B Ashok told

reporters on the sidelines of an industry here Saturday.

Nearly 14 villages and 850 families are likely to be

affected due to the project.

"We are going ahead with the project and we are in

continuous dialogue with the land owners trying to spread

awareness about the benefits of the project, which will not

just change the face of the industry but also the district,

state and the country as a whole," he said.

The Oppostion Congress, NCP and Maharashtra Navnirman

Sena, and the ruling ally Shiv Sena in the state are

supporting the locals who are opposed to the project as they

claim that it would damage the fragile ecology.

The entire Konkan belt is ecologically sensitive and

is home to one of a large varieties of flora and fauna apart

from animal, bird and reptile species and is tagged as one of

the most fragile ecological zones in the world.

To spread awareness about the project, the company has

also taken some of the villagers to the Panipat Refinery, in

Haryana, Ashok said, adding "he is hopeful of starting the

ground work on January 1, 2020 and actual work in 2021."

When asked if the company has the support from the

state, especially after the state government had last November

stayed the land acquisition process for the project, Ashok

said, "we have complete support from both the Centre as well

as the state."

On the concerns of the protesters that the refinery

will create pollution, he said, "nearly 80 percent of the land

is barren and we have committed to plant around 1,000 trees in

the vicinity of the refinery. It is going to be an integrated

project and also create jobs for the locals. If the project

does not happen, it will be a big miss for the nation." PTI

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