India's Maharashtra puts land purchase for Saudi Aramco refinery on hold
MUMBAI (Reuters) - India’s western state of Maharashtra has put on hold the process to buy land for the country’s biggest oil refinery that state-run oil companies are building with Saudi Aramco, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, after strong opposition from farmers.
The $44 billion
But thousands of farmers are refusing to surrender land, fearing it could damage a region famed for its Alphonso mangoes, vast cashew plantations and fishing hamlets that boast bountiful catches of seafood.
“The entire (land acquisition) process has stayed. We haven’t acquired any land,” Fadnavis told state assembly on Wednesday as opposition parties and a coalition partner Shiv Sena were opposing the refinery.
The Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPL), which is running the project, says the 1.2 million barrel-per-day (
RRPL, a joint venture between Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat
Issues related to the land for the refinery will be sorted out by the state government soon given the importance of the project, RRPL Chief Executive officer B. Ashok told Reuters.
Land acquisition has always been a contentious issue in rural India, where a majority of the population depends on farming for their livelihood.
In 2008, for example, India’s Tata
Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav, editing by David Evans
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