Finally, the much debated mega refinery will come up in Barsu village in Ratnagiri district as the Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray MLA from Rajapur-Lanza-Sakharpa assembly constituency Mr Rajan Salvi in particular and other stakeholders on Tuesday extended support for the project. This was announced by the industry minister Mr Uday Samant who held a marathon meeting with Mr Salvi, former minister of state for industry and NCP legislator Ms Aditi Tatkare and other stakeholders on the mega refinery project which was scrapped at Nanar due to the Shiv Sena’s strong opposition. With Mr Salvi’s support, the cracks surfaced in the Shiv Sena UBT as the party MP Mr Vinayak Raut continues to oppose the project.
‘’Of the 6,200 acre of land, the letter of consent has been given by the land owners for 2,900 acres. Efforts are on to give higher compensation towards land acquisition. The government will not exert any pressure on the villagers for the development of the mega refinery there. After today’s meeting Mr Salvi and others have supported the mega refinery project in the larger interest of overall development of the Konkan region and creation of jobs for the locals,’’ said Mr Samant. ‘’The water for the proposed refinery will be used from Koyana river and not from Arjuna river by laying down the pipeline,’’ he added.
Mr Samant said that the government has accepted Mr Salvi’s suggestion not to supply water from Arjuna river as it may cause water shortage in Rajapur and around.
‘’The villages through which the pipeline will pass will be supplied with water. However, the Gram Panchayats will have to pay the water cess. The pipeline will come up to Barsu and 160 MLD water will be required for the project,’’ he added.
Mr Samant said that the crude oil stock will be built up at NatesakharvVillage where the digging of the bore has already begun and works are underway in various other places. ‘’There will be direct employment for 3,000 people and indirect employment of 75,000. The project will entail an investment of nearly Rs 2 lakh crore,’’ said Mr Samant.
As reported by the Free Press Journal, Mr Samant in September had made a strong case for the mega refinery project at Barsu and announced that he would meet political parties and stakeholders to understand their views. Mr Samant did not reveal whether the mega refinery with an annual production of 60 million tonnes will come up at Barsu or whether the project size will be curtailed in the wake of both internal and external factors.
Mr Salvi strongly defended his move to support the upcoming mega refinery project saying that it will create jobs for lakhs of youth and business opportunities for several families. ‘’The project will also help remove the employment backlog from Ratapur taluka and stop the migration of people permanently. Nearly 125 villages and 75 non-government organisations from Ratapur taluka have made a strong demand in favour of the project development,’’ he said.
He claimed that there has been a drastic fall in the production of mangos and other horticultural crops and also drop in fish production in Rajapur taluka that has led to the youth migrating to Mumbai, Pune and Kolhapur for jobs. ‘’There has been a favourable and conducive atmosphere in favour of the mega refinery project in Rajapur taluka. However, there has been opposition to the project due to the misinformation campaign run by few organisations. However, I am confident that if the government and the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation conduct an awareness programme and also incur expenditure on local development the people can be brought on board,’’ he noted.
According to the minister, a skill development centre will be set up for the locals to get the necessary skill set. He said the trees found in the Konkan region will be planted.
The industry department sources said that ‘’Against the total annual production capacity of 60 million tonnes per annum, the Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Company Ltd (RRPCL) is expected to initially produce 20 million tonnes per annum and later it will take a call for expansion in the wake of the prevailing situation. Instead of 15,000 acres, the project with a smaller size will be developed on about 5,500 acres of land which is currently available. Villagers from Barsu, Dhopeshwar, Panhle, Gowal, Nate, Wada Tiware and Wada Panhere in Rajapur taluka have already expressed their support for the project development.’’
Even though Mr Salvi has come on board the Shiv Sena UBT’s MP from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Mr Vinayak Raut continues to oppose the mega refinery project citing the opposition from the locals. Mr Salvi during the BJP led government between 2014 and 2019 and even after the formation of Maha Vikas Aghadi government had strongly opposed the project but later came out in full support of the project. With Mr Salvi’s move, cracks have surfaced in the Shiv Sena UBT while for the Eknath Shinde-led Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena and BJP it was feather in their cap especially after facing outcry over the loss of five key projects including $20 billion Vedanta Foxconn semi conductors project, Rs 22,000 crore Tata Airbus defence transport aircraft project, the bulk drug project, the medical device project and dedicated manufacturing zone for power and renewable energy equipment.
The government will have to go the extra mile to convince the section of villagers and organisations from Barsu and adjoining villages who are strongly against the mega refinery project saying it would adversely impact the environment and horticulture in the Konkan region.
