India puts land for Saudi refinery on hold
$44b refinery was seen as a game changer for both parties, by securing supplies and purchases
India’s western state of Maharashtra has put on hold the process to buy land for the country’s biggest oil refinery that state-run oil companies are building with Saudi Aramco, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, after facing strong opposition from farmers.
The $44 billion (Dh161 billion) refinery was seen as a game changer for both parties — offering India steady fuel supplies and meeting Saudi Arabia’s need to secure regular buyers for its oil.
But thousands of farmers are refusing to surrender land, fearing it could damage a region famed for its Alphonso mangoes, vast cashew plantations and fishing hamlets that boast bountiful seafood catches.
“The entire (land acquisition) process has been stayed. We haven’t acquired any land,” Fadnavis told the state assembly on Wednesday, as opposition parties and a coalition partner Shiv Sena were opposing the refinery.
State to sort out soon
The Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPL), which is running the project, says the 1.2 million barrel per day (bpd) refinery, and an integrated petrochemical site with an 18 million tonnes per year capacity, will help create direct and indirect employment for up to 150,000 people, with jobs that pay better than agriculture or fishing.
RRPL, a joint venture between Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum, has said suggestions that the refinery would damage the environment were baseless.
Issues related to the land for the refinery will be sorted out by the state government soon, given the importance of the project, RRPL CEO B. Ashok told Reuters.
Land acquisition has always been a contentious issue in rural regions of India, where a majority of the population depends on farming for their livelihood. In 2008, for example, Indian automotive major Tata Motors had to shelve plans for a car factory in an eastern state after facing widespread protests from farmers.