Nanar refinery project: Sena, BJP on warpath

After the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP), the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was targeted on Thursday by Shiv Sena over the upcoming Nanar refinery project in coastal Ratnagiri.

A day after an Indian consortium consisting of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) signed a MoU with Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Saudi Aramco) for setting up India's largest refinery and petroleum complex in Ratnagiri district of coastal Konkan belt, Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray has made its intentions clear.

In fact, Konkan strongman and Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha founder Narayan Rane, who recently entered the Rajya Sabha, through a BJP nomination, is opposed to the project.
When completed the Rs 3-trillion refinery at Nanar in Ratnagiri, will be the largest single location refinery complex in the world with a capacity of 60 million tonnes.

Even though Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had assured that the project is good for the state - the Shiv Sena is vehemently opposed to the project.

It is worth mentioning here that the proposed 9,900 MW nuclear park project of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) at Jaitapur in Rajapur taluka of Ratnagiri district - too was opposed by the Shiv Sena and so far, it has failed to take off. Both, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, who headed the Congress-led UPA government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who heads the NDA government, pushed the project, but the Shiv Sena opposition has come in the way. The project which had taken off aimed at installing 6 units of 1650 MW power capacity each at the Madban village and this would have been the biggest nuclear park of the world.

Even as the Jaitapur project is in limbo, locals from 14 villages in the vicinity of the Nanar opposing the project. "Shiv Sena would not allow the Nanar project to come up," Thackeray said on Thursday, hitting out at Fadnavis for going back on his words.