Mega refinery to come up on 15K-acres in Maharashtra: Pradhan

The government, which had planned to set up a mega refinery on the western coast, has sought 15,000 acres of land in Maharashtra, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said.
"IOC, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum will come together to set up the mega refinery in Maharashtra. For this, the government has sought 15,000 acres of land in that state", Pradhan told reporters on the sidelines of a Balmer Lawrie event here today.
The Maharashtra government will decide on the location of the land, Pradhan said.
Out of 15,000 acres, 33 per cent would reserved for green coverage.

Asked whether any fiscal concession had been sought to make the refinery viable, he said "all refineries will be viable only by getting fiscal concessions".
"We had very successful discussions with the Maharashtra government and hopefully work will start soon", he said.

The three oil companies will share equity in the same proportion in the mega project.
Besides IOC, BPCL and HPCL, EIL might also pick up stake at a later stage. Presently, EIL is a consultant.
The quantum of investment and capacity would be decided after completion of the techno-economic feasibility study.
Regarding savings from low crude prices, Pradhan said 55 per cent of the saved amount was being passed on to the consumers.

The policy, Pradhan said, has many fiscal incentives such
as pricing and marketing freedom of crude oil and natural gas, reduced royalty rates for offshore areas.
Also, it envisages significant reduction in administrative discretion through greater freedom to the operator and increased transparency.
"We are keen to make India's oil and gas sector fair, transparent and attractive for domestic and foreign investors through appropriate policy, regulatory and fiscal interventions," he said.
Pradhan began his two-day visit of UAE yesterday with the inauguration of Make-in-India Pavilion at the Annual Investment Meet held at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
The Pavilion drew participation from about 25 top Indian companies. He later visited the Jabel Ali Free Zone and met Indian investors there.