CM Devendra Fadnavis placates Sena, stays land takeover for Konkan refinery

MUMBAI: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday announced that the state government had stayed land acquisition for the Nanar oil refinery project in Ratnagiri district. He said the stay was ordered after a discussion with Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, whose party is opposed to the controversial project.
The Rs 3 lakh crore project has been a bone of contention between the BJP and its ally in the government.The refinery needs 15,000 hectares to be acquired in 14 villages in Ratnagiri and two in Sindhudurg district, and locals have held several protests against it. They have alleged that lakhs of mango and cashew trees will be lost if the project goes through. The Sena, with a strong base in the Konkan, a sitting MP from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg and an MLA from Rajapur, has backed the locals.
While the notification for land acquisition was issued in 2017, on April 23 this year, industries minister Subhash Desai of the Sena had declared, in the presence of Thackeray, that the state government had cancelled the notification and the process for land takeover had been stayed. This was denied by Fadnavis at the time.
In June, the Sena had said that it would not allow the refinery project to proceed.