India moves to acquire land for joint project with Aramco and Adnoc

27 September 2018
Committee has six months to make recommendations to the mega downstream project's owners

The local government in the western Indian state of Maharashtra has formed a panel to initiate the land acquisition process for the $44bn mega refining and petrochemicals project, in which Saudi Aramco and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) jointly own 50 per cent of the stake.

The government-constituted panel has been tasked with meeting disgruntled farmers and their representative bodies, to understand their concerns and convince them to trade in their lands for the downstream project, the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has said in a statement.

The committee will also evaluate the environmental aspects of the project, and make recommendations - after conducting studies and interacting with local bodies - to the operators about minimising the ecological impact of the project.

The panel is to submit its recommendations within six months, say the IOC, which is leading the Indian consortium of three state-owned refiners that owns the other 50 per cent stake in the project, has said.

The megaproject, proposed to be built near the Arabian Sea coastal city of Ratnagiri in Maharashtra state, has been mired in political controversy ever since it was announced.

Opposition political parties at the national and state levels in India have been vociferously criticising the downstream project citing its environmental credentials.

Local farmers’ bodies, pressure groups and environmental outfits too have criticised the Ratnagiri project on grounds that it will harm the ecological balance of the area, which has a thick cover of coastal mangrove forest and a rich biodiversity of marine life.

Agricultural produce from the land, notably a special variety of tropical mangoes and cashew nuts, have been a means of livelihood for the local populace, sections of which are opposed to the project claiming it will hamper the land’s fertility.

The megaproject will feature a 1.2 million barrels a day (b/d) refinery integrated with petrochemical facilities, with a total capacity to produce 18 million tonnes a year (t/y) of derivative products.

Aramco signed an agreement in April, with the Indian stakeholders, to buy up to 50 per cent of the Ratnagiri project’s stake.

The company later diluted half of its stake to Adnoc through a memorandum of understanding signed in June, making both Gulf energy giants joint owners of half of the project’s stake.

The Indian consortium consists of IOC, as the leader with 25 per cent of the stake, and Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum holding 12.5 per cent each.

The project’s stakeholders aim to start production by 2022.

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