Desai says he has initiated de-notification of land

Maharashtra Industries Minister Subhash Desai today said he had started the process of denotifying the land acquired for the mega oil refinery at Nanar in Ratnagiri district, contrary to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's assertion last week that the minister had no authority to do so.

The project has become a bone of contention between ruling allies BJP and Shiv Sena, with the latter opposing it tooth and nail.

Speaking to reporters at his office in Mantralaya, Desai, a senior Sena leader, said he had directed the Industries Department secretary to submit a report about de-notification.

Being the industries minister, he was empowered to denotify the land acquisition process, Desai said.

"As per the official procedure, the industries secretary will seek report from the Ratnagiri district collector who oversees the acquisition process," he said.

Citing the land acquisition act, Desai said it was the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) which had issued the notification for land acquisition.

"Being the minister authorised to issue the notification for land acquisition, I have the power to denotify the land acquisition too," Desai said.

Recently, the chief minister had stated, commenting on Desai's statement that he was going to denotify the acquisition process, that the industries minister could not do it, and the power was vested with a high-powered committee.

Replying to a question, Desai said the Centre's 2013 land acquisition law mandates that land can not be acquired for a project if there is opposition from local people.

Ten Gram Panchayats in the vicinity of the proposed project site at Nanar had passed resolutions in 2017 opposing the land acquisition process, he said.

"When there is such a strong opposition, there was no point in going ahead with the project. It would be wise on the part of the government not to allow the situation to snowball into an unsavoury public agitation," Desai said.

On shifting the oil refinery to Vidarbha -- as suggested by Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray -- and chief minister's remark that the project needed to be close to the sea, Desai said there are many oil refinery projects in land-locked states such as Madhya Pradesh.