Shift proposed refinery's site from Ratnagiri to Marathwada:

A forum working for the development of the Marathwada region in Maharashtra today demanded that the multi-billion dollar refinery and petrochemicals complex, proposed to be set up in Ratnagiri along the Konkan coast, be shifted there.

Addressing reporters, Sanjay Lakhe Patil of the Marathwada Backlog Removal and Development Forum said that shifting the refinery complex would help develop the Marathwada region as well as other areas of the state like north Maharashtra and Warhad region of Vidarbha.

He said that the refinery complex would provide employment to one lakh people.

He claimed that there were ten refineries in India that were located in areas away from the coast and all of them were functioning smoothly.

"There are three in Assam, one each in Mangalore, Bihar, Mathura, Panipat, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Barmer in Rajasthan," he said.

The proposed refinery and petrochemicals complex, proposed to be set up in Ratnagiri, has been opposed by the Shiv Sena and the Congress which have claimed that it would harm the environment of the Konkan region.