New Delhi/Singapore: India’s poll politics and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambition to win a second straight term has claimed an unlikely victim. A proposed $44 billion oil refinery in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, to be built with investments from Saudi Arabia.
On Monday, the Maharashtra government decided to relocate the Ratnagiri refinery project, a day ahead of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to India. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which leads the government in the nation’s richest state, has been facing stiff opposition from ally Shiv Sena over the site of the refinery.
“There is a lot of political risk associated,” said Sri Paravaikkarasu, an analyst at industry consultant FGE in Singapore.
