New Delhi: India has invited Saudi Arabia to invest in its strategic oil storage even as it looks to resurrect a USD 44 billion (Rs 3.08 lakh crore) refinery project with the world’s largest oil producer after the BJP-ruled Maharashtra government denied land at the initial site.
Saudi Oil Minister Khalid Al Falih, on his second visit to India in three weeks, discussed with his Indian counterpart Dharmendra Pradhan the 60 million tonne (MT) a year mega oil refinery cum petrochemical complex, whose initial allocated land in coastal Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra was denotified by the state government earlier this month, as part of electoral understanding between the ruling BJP and Shiv Sena.
“The (two) ministers reviewed various Saudi investment proposals in the Indian oil and gas sector, including the urgent steps to be taken to expedite the implementation of the first joint venture West Coast Refinery and Petrochemical Project in Maharashtra, estimated to cost USD 44 billion, which will be the largest greenfield refinery in the world,” an oil ministry statement said Sunday.
