MH-NANAR-MINISTER

Won't allow oil refinery in coastal Konkan, says Sena minister
    Mumbai, Feb 20 (PTI) Two days after Maharashtra Chief
Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that the proposed Nanar
oil refinery will be relocated, a Shiv Sena minister has said
the project won't be allowed anywhere else in the coastal
Konkan region.
    Opposition from farmers had prompted Maharashtra to
move the location for what would be the country's biggest oil
refinery, Fadnavis had announced Monday after the BJP forged
an alliance with Shiv Sena for the upcoming elections.
    State-run oil companies and Saudi Arabian Oil Company
known as Saudi Aramco have teamed up to build the $44 billion
(Rs 3 lakh crore) refinery, which is aimed at giving India
steady fuel supplies while meeting Saudi Arabia's need to
secure regular buyers for its oil.
    "We (Sena) won't allow the oil refinery to be set up
anywhere in the Konkan region," Environment Minister Ramdas
Kadam told reporters here Wednesday.
    The announcement by Kadam came after Saudi Arabia's
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived in India Tuesday
night and is expected to announce investments in energy and
infrastructure during the visit.
    "Cancellation of the refinery project in Konkan was
the first condition that Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had
put before BJP president Amit Shah and Fadnavis. The project
will not take place anywhere in Konkan," the minister said.
    "Shiv Sena leader and state industries minister
Subhash Desai communicated the party's Nanar refinery-related
objections to Fadnavis," Kadam said.
    The chief minister assured Desai that a notification
cancelling the Nanar refinery project will be issued before
the code of conduct for the Lok Sabha polls comes into effect,
Kadam said.
    Nanar village in Ratnagiri district, some 400 km south
of Mumbai was to be the site for the world's biggest
integrated oil refinery and petrochemicals complex with a
capacity to process 60 million tonnnes.
    Nearly 14 villages and 850 families were likely to be
affected due to the project. Thousands of farmers refused to
surrender land, fearing it could damage a region famed for its
Alphonso mangoes, vast cashew plantations and fishing hamlets
that boast bountiful catches of seafood.
    After their protests, land acquisition was stopped for
the refinery at the proposed site at Nanar.
    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. PTI ND VT
VT VT