Maharashtra state Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis revealed that India has finally zeroed down on a location to build a giant US$44-billion mega refinery, in partnership with the world’s largest oil producer, Saudi Aramco, and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).
50 per cent of the new joint venture will be owned by companies from India inclulding Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, the remaining will be jointly owned by Saudi Aramco and ADNOC.
The process of land acquisition was put on hold due to strong opposition from local farmers. Devendra Fadnavis in February revealed that the mega refinery would be relocated to a new location. The new location is in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, some 62 miles south of Mumbai.
The mega refinery will produce 1.2 million barrels per day which will make it India’s largest refinery.
“CIDCO (City and Industrial Development Corporation) has sought land documents of those 40 villages to initiate acquisition process of the notified land under the Navnagar Development Corporation from the Raigad Collector’s office,” Fadnavis told lawmakers in Maharashtra in a written reply.
Talking about the risks of the project not going through, Vandana Hari, CEO of Vanda Insights based in Singapore told Gulf News that risk for India’s joint project with Aramco and Adnoc is very minimal since the Indian Government is involved and also India’s reputation is at stake.
India consumed 206.2 million tonnes (over 4 million bpd) in 2017-18, making it the world’s third-largest oil consumer.
FGE, a preeminent global oil and gas consultancy expects the first phase of the refinery to be operation-ready by 2027-2028.