Saudi Aramco, ADNOC’s India refinery project delayed by 2 years
The construction of a 1.2- million-barrels-a-day giant oil refinery-cum-petrochemical complex planned by Indian oil companies in partnership with Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil company (ADNOC) in the western coastal state of Maharashtra has been delayed by two years following a delay in acquisition of land.
Based on a statement at the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly last month by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis that acquisition of land for the project has been put on hold after a strong opposition from farmers, the chief executive of Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPL), was quoted as stating in the company website that the project would now be completed in 2024 and commissioning will be in 2025.
RRPL is spearheading the project which is half owned by Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum companies and the remainder by Saudi Aramco and ADNOC. In view of the anticipated completion and commissioning of the project the estimated cost has been revised to US$50 nillion from US$44 billion.
Originally, the refinery was scheduled to be commissioned in 2023.Now, according to a revised plan, land acquisition will be completed by the end of 2019 and a work on construction will start in early 2020.
Ashok said the project was designed to produce 1.2 million barrels of high grade oil and 18 million tonnes a year of petrochemical products. Aramco is expected to supply about 50 per cent of the crude oil to be processed at the plant.
Aramco is expected to supply about 50 per cent of the crude for the project, along with technology. The refinery may process 1.2 million barrels of crude oil a day and produce around 18 MT of petrochemical products annually.
Land acquisition is a contentious issue in India. According to the RPPL website, the refinery and associated petrochemical project would be spread over 15,000 acres of land. But farmers have refused to surrender their land, fearing it could damage the ecology of the region famous for its Alphonso mangoes, vast cashew plantations and fishing hamlets.
