Nanar refinery project: Govt pact with Gulf companies invites Sena netas’ ire

Shiv Sena ministers on Wednesday registered a protest against an MoU signed in connection with the USD 44 billion refinery project in Maharashtra at the Cabinet meeting held in Mumbai, Transport Minister Diwakar Raote said.

The Sena ministers took objection to the MoU signed between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Saudi Aramco to take a stake in the planned refinery in the Konkan region, he told reporters after the weekly Cabinet meeting.

Sena has been staunchly opposing the project claiming that it would destroy the fragile ecology of the region.

Industries Minister Subhash Desai had on Tuesday said that the state government was not taken into confidence before the MoU was signed. Raote said the party ministers also met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on the issue.

Fadnavis told the ministers that he would discuss the issue with Subhash Desai, Raote said.

However, officials in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said that the Nanar refinery issue was not discussed in Wednesday’s meeting.

Saudi Aramco and ADNOC signed the pact on Monday to jointly develop and build the integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex at Nanar in coastal Ratnagiri district.

Aramco and ADNOC will together hold 50 per cent stake in the project, while the remaining half will be split between state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL).

The Sena ministers took objection to the MoU signed between Abu Dhabi National Oil Co and Saudi Aramco to take a stake in the planned refinery in the Konkan region