Nanar refinery project won't be imposed on people: Maha CM

The Nanar refinery project, in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district, will not be imposed on the people of the area and the government wanted to find a solution to the issue through discussions, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the state Legislative Council today.

The USD 44 billion dollar project, a venture of Indian, Saudi Arabian and United Arab Emirates oil firms, is being opposed by a section of the people there as well as parties like the Shiv Sena which have claimed that it would destroy the ecosystem of the Konkan belt.

Fadnavis was replying to queries raised about the project by MLCs Husnabanu Khalife, Sharad Ranpise, Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Tatkare, Anil Parab, Kiran Pawaskar and Leader of Opposition in the Council Dhananjay Munde.

Khalife asked the government if the project's land acquisition presentation was shown to the residents and panchayat functionaries of Nanar, to which Fadnavis replied that there was no such procedure.

Fadnavis added that the notification to acquire land for the refinery complex had not yet been de-notified.

The Sena's Anil Parab said that the people of the area had given a "non consent" letter to the state government and wanted to known if the project would be cancelled on the basis of this letter.

Replying to him, Fadnavis said,"We have earlier witnessed protests against the Samruddhi Expressway (Mumbai-Nagpur) corridor too. People had protested and gram panchayats had passed resolutions. However, we took everyone into confidence and explained the project to them."