NCP bats for refinery in Maha after talks with MahaYuti partners, residents

Mumbai, Jan 3 (IANS) The NCP, which is a partner of the ruling MahaYuti in Maharashtra, on Friday made a strong case for the development of a refinery in the coastal Ratnagiri district, (previously known as Nanar refinery) after consultation within the grand alliance and taking the locals into confidence.

State NCP chief Sunil Tatkare, who is the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on petroleum and natural gas, said, "There is a possibility that the refinery with reduction in its capacity against that which was proposed earlier, can come up in Maharashtra.

“The Centre has dropped hints in this regard. With the new government being formed with a strong majority, the development of a refinery with a cut in the operating capacity can be discussed with the Centre and among the other MahaYuti partners and residents.

“As the country’s outgo towards import of oil is substantial, the development of a refinery is quite crucial.”

Tatkare said even though refinery development does not come under his purview as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee, but the state will have to give a fresh look and take the proposal forward.

He reiterated that the new government in Maharashtra should soon take a stand on the development of the refinery.

“Majority of the elected representatives to the Lok Sabha and the state Assembly from the Konkan region belong to the MahaYuti. Therefore, the government can discuss the issue with them and locals before taking it up with the Centre,” he remarked.

Tatkare’s statement is crucial, especially when the mega refinery project with an annual operating capacity of 60 million tonnes per annum (MMT) was planned by a combine of three PSUs — IOC, HPCL and BPCL during the Devendra Fadnavis led government between 2014 and 2019.

However, Fadnavis stayed the land notification ahead of the Assembly elections in 2019 following strong opposition by the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray which was the BJP’s ally then.

Thereafter, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, had said that the Centre plans to revive the 60 MMT Ratnagiri refinery project.

The project could not take off during the previous regime in Maharashtra, due to delayed land acquisition.

Puri has indicated that instead of establishing one 60 MMT refinery, three units of 20 MMT each can be set up at different places.

Thereafter, the state government identified the new site at Barsu in Ratnagiri district, but the proposal has not moved forward yet.

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