Mega refinery to come up on 15,000-acres in Maharashtra: Dharmendra Pradhan

KOLKATA: The government, which had planned to set up a mega refinery on the western coast, has sought 15,000 acres of land in Maharashtra, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said.
"IOC, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum will come together to set up the mega refinery in Maharashtra. For this, the government has sought 15,000 acres of land in that state", Pradhan told reporters on the sidelines of a Balmer Lawrie event here today.

The Maharashtra government will decide on the location of the land, Pradhan said.

Out of 15,000 acres, 33 per cent would reserved for green coverage.

Asked whether any fiscal concession had been sought to make the refinery viable, he said "all refineries will be viable only by getting fiscal concessions".

"We had very successful discussions with the Maharashtra government and hopefully work will start soon", he said.

The three oil companies will share equity in the same proportion in the mega project.

Besides IOC, BPCL and HPCL, EIL might also pick up stake at a later stage. Presently, EIL is a consultant.

The quantum of investment and capacity would be decided after completion of the techno-economic feasibility study.

Regarding savings from low crude prices, Pradhan said 55 per cent of the saved amount was being passed on to the consumers.

The balance was being used in building roads and for helping the government for greater devolution of funds to states on recommendations of 14th Finance Commission, he said.