RATNAGIRI REFINERY – ECONOMY
News: The
protests against the refinery project in Maharashtra
What's in the news?
● Maharashtra
government started conducting soil testing at Rajapur tehsil’s Barsu village in
the coastal Ratnagiri district to know if the site was suitable for the
proposed multi-billion-dollar Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited
(RRPCL) project which is touted as the world’s largest single location refinery
complex.
Key takeaways:
● As
of April 2022, India’s oil refining capacity stood at 251.2 million metric
tonnes per annum, making it the second-largest
refiner in Asia and the fourth largest in the world.
Barsu Refinery Project:
● The
project is expected to have a capacity of 60 million tonnes per annum.
● It
is a joint venture between Saudi Aramco,
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Bharat
Petroleum Corporation Limited, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited.
● Saudi
Aramco and ADNOC, as per an agreement signed in 2018, hold a 50% stake. They
also agreed to jointly build and develop the refinery and petrochemicals
complex.
● Besides
fuel, the project also proposes to develop
various downstream petrochemicals to meet India’s fast-growing petrochemical
demand.
● Initially,
the project was supposed to come up at Nanar, about 20 kilometres from Barsu.
However, due to strong opposition from the locals, environmental activists and
the Shiv Sena, the project was denotified in 2019.
Protest by Villagers:
● Hundreds
of residents from Barsu-Solgaon and neighbouring villages are protesting the
government’s decision as they are concerned about the potential impact on the environment and the
livelihoods of local communities.
● The
project site is in a region that is ecologically sensitive, with several
species of flora and fauna endemic to
the area.
● The
Konkan region has large mango orchids as well as jack fruit and cashew
plantations. The project would require 6,200 acres of land from 14 villagers –
12 in Ratnagiri and two in neighbouring Sindhudurg districts.
● The
villagers also expressed concern about the potential health hazards posed by
the refinery and petrochemical unit, which is expected to emit a large amount of pollutants.
● According
to locals, Konkan already suffers from air pollution due to the presence of coal-fired power plants.