Maharashtra Government Identifies New Site For $44 Billion Saudi Aramco-ADNOC Oil Refinery

The Maharashtra Government has identified a new site for the planned $44 billion oil refinery that the public sector oil majors are building in partnership with Saudi Arabia's Aramco and United Arab Emirates’ Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), reports Economic Times.

The new site identified by the Government is in Raigad district which lies about 100 km south of the India’s financial capital, Mumbai. The information was made public by the state's Chief Minister (CM) Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday (19 June).

Initially, the refinery had been proposed to be built at Nanar, a village in the Ratnagiri district, some 400 km south of Mumbai. Later, the state government changed the plans as thousands of farmers protested fearing that the development could damage the region famous for its Alphonso mangoes, vast cashew plantations and fishing hamlets.

The Saudi Aramco and ADNOC will have a 50 per cent stake in the Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPCL), the company that is building the project, while the remainder will be held by State run companies - Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum.