Konkan has always resisted big projects

Nestled in the cradle of nature - picturesque beaches on one side, the hills of Sahyadri ranges on the other, green forests, rice plantations, cashew, mangoes, fish - the twin districts of Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg in the south Konkan belt touching the Arabian Sea - have always resisted mega-projects.

In fact, over decades, Ratnagiri had witnessed several major protests.

The ongoing protests at Barsu-Solgaon in Rajapur tehsil of Ratnagiri district against the Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPCL) - a super-refinery project - is just an addition to the list.

Also Read: Scenic Konkan is allergic to big ‘development’ projects

The same project had to be scrapped earlier from the previous location of Nanar.

The Shiv Sena had opposed the project in Nanar and sided with the locals and when the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government was in power, the decision to scout another local was taken and it was decided to have it in Barsu-Solgaon.

The Rs 3 lakh crore project would be the largest single location refinery complex in the world with a capacity of 60 million tonnes- and it Indian consortium consisting of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) that signed an MoU with Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco) for setting up India's largest refinery and petroleum complex.

In Ratnagiri itself, two other projects that had faced opposition are the Dabhol power project and Jaitapur nuclear power project.

As far as the DPC was concerned, it was formed in 1992 - when the Congress government was in power.The Dabhol plant was built through the combined effort of Enron, GE, and Bechtel. GE provided the generating turbines to Dabhol, Bechtel constructed the physical plant, and Enron was charged with managing the project through Enron International. From 1992-2001, it has seen controversies.

Thereafter, the power plant ran into trouble due to the Enron scandal leading to the bankruptcy of Enron. It may be recalled that late BJP leader Gopinath Munde, as Leader of Opposition had vowed to "throw the Enron project into the Arabian Sea". However, in 1995 when the Shiv Sena-BJP saffron alliance government came to power and he became the deputy chief minister, things changed. Rebecca Mark, the former head of Enron International, a subsidiary of Enron, had also met Shiv Sena Supremo, the late Balasaheb Thackeray to discuss the project that was seeing opposition.

In 2005, it was taken over and revived by converting it into the RGPPL, which is a joint venture of NTPC Ltd, GAIL, Government of Maharashtra. Its three power blocks supply a combined 1967 MW of electricity to the Western Grid.

As far as the Jaitapur nuclear park of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) was concerned - it was one of the ambitious plans of the then Congress-led UPA government headed by Dr Manmohan Singh. The NDA government led by Narendra Modi continued with it. However, the plant had been opposed by locals and political parties including Shiv Sena. In April, 2011, a youth died in police firing during the protests in Madban-Jaitapur.

The project aims at installing 6 units of 1,650 MW power capacity - the total capacity being 9,900 MW - making it the biggest nuclear power complex in the world. It was planned in collaboration with French company Areva. It has now been taken over by Electricite De France (EDF). The total project cost would be around Rs 1 trillion.