As the saying goes there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The Shiv Sena, which leads the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, has clarified that it was not opposed to the Rs 3 lakh crore mega refinery project with an annual production of 60 million tonnes but reiterated that it should come up at a site where there is no opposition. Tourism and Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Monday during his tour in the coastal Sindhudurg district dropped a sufficient hint that the mega refinery project, which was proposed at Nanar in Ratnagiri district and scrapped in March 2019, can be developed on any other site where the local people are not opposed to it. The state-run Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation has identified sites at Tala in Ratnagiri district and also in the Vidarbha region.
Thackeray was replying to a query on Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan reportedly said on Sunday that there was hope for a revival of the project as the current Maharashtra government seems to be changing its mind about it.
"The issue of shifting the project is there. The project should be developed on (an alternate) site where the local people are not opposed to it, by taking the people along and holding discussions with them. The next steps will be taken keeping in mind how the sons-of-the-soil will get justice," Aaditya said.
He said people will be taken into confidence for such projects by the state government and work will go ahead only after all issues are sorted out.
Aaditya’s statement came days after Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had urged Pradhan and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to shift the mega refinery to the Vidarbha region. Gadkari has assured that necessary infrastructure including roads will be developed for the mega refinery project.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MP Vinayak Raut told a news channel in Sindhudurg that Union minister Pradhan may have made the comment (on project revival) to "create confusions in the minds of the people". ‘’The Maharashtra government is insisting on developing the project in Maharashtra itself. But the project will not be implemented in Nanar if the people are opposed to it," Raut said.
