Ask Sena ministers to protest against Nanar refinery, NCP to

The NCP today dared Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray to ask Sena ministers in the Maharashtra government to not attend office in protest against the proposed Nanar refinery project in Ratnagiri district.

Sena ministers in the Devendra Fadnavis government had yesterday registered a protest against an MoU signed in connection with the USD 44 billion refinery project, Transport Minister and senior Sena leader Diwakar Raote had told reporters after the weekly Cabinet meeting.

Raote had informed that Sena ministers took objection to the MoU signed between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Saudi Aramco to take a stake in the proposed refinery in the Konkan region.

The NCP today mocked Thackeray for snubbing Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan when the latter sought an appointment with the Sena chief.

NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said that Thackeray could decide when to open the doors of his residence for BJP leaders but questioned when he would ask his ministers to skip attending office in protest.

"This drama of misleading the common man should stop," Malik said.

He further questioned as to how the MoU for the refinery project could be signed when state Industries Minister Subhash Desai had announced in Nanar, in the presence of Thackeray, that the land acquisition notification for the project would be withdrawn.

Saudi Aramco and ADNOC signed an MoU on June 25 to jointly develop and build an integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex at Ratnagiri in Maharashtra. The project will be implemented by Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. (RRPCL).

RRPCL is promoted by a consortium of India PSUs consisting of IOCL, BPCL and HPCL and will have Saudi Aramco and ADNOC as overseas strategic partners.

The mega refinery will be capable of processing 60 million metric tonnes of crude oil per annum and will also provide feedstock for the integrated petrochemicals complex, which will have the capacity of producing 18 million tonnes per annum of petrochemical products.