Mumbai: Stare-run oil companies and Saudi Aramco have teamed up to build the USD 44 billion refinery, which is aimed at giving India steady fuel supplies while meeting Saudi Arabia’s need to secure regular buyers for its oil.
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.
After their protests, land acquisition has been stopped for the refinery at the proposed site at Nanar, a village in Ratnagiri district, some 400 km (250 miles) south of Mumbai, Fadnavis said on Monday.