No decision taken on oil refinery plant location in Maharashtra: Union minister

Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday said the Centre has not taken any decision to set up an oil refinery project in any specific area in MaharashtraSpeaking to reporters in Chandrapur he said the state government will have to discuss the projects location with the Central governmentHe alleged the erstwhile government in Maharashtra had allocated land for the project but later refused under the pretext of changing the location which derailed the projectFollowing this the state Maharashtra and the country faced huge economic losses in the last twoandahalf years Puri allegedPuri was apparently referring to the Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemical project proposed to be built at Nanar village in Ratnagiri district in coastal Konkan but it was scrapped before the 2019 polls at the insistence of Shiv Sena the then alliance partner of BJPAlso Read Aaditya blames Shinde govt Sena rebels for loss of VedantaFoxconn plantEstablishing a 60million metric tonne per annum oil refinery will be the biggest plant in the world Puri saidIf it is set up anywhere in the country it has the potential to change the economic scenario in that state very fast Puri saidHe said an industrial association has recommended setting up a 20million metric tonne capacity oil refinery in the Vidarbha region in east Maharashtra claiming it has a huge scope of minerals metals etcI have suggested the association recommend such issues to the Central government and we will look into them However I have not taken any decision on setting up an oil refinery at Chandrapur or in the Vidarbha region in Maharashtra he addedHe said it is the Maharashtra governments call to select the location for the project After necessary talks between the state and the Union governments and international tieups a decision will be taken said PuriAfter the FoxconnVedanta project which was proposed in Pune district shifted to Gujarat Maharashtra Industries Minister Uday Samant said PM Modi had assured chief minister Eknath Shinde that the state will get an equally big projectPuris visit to the Chandrapur constituency is part of the Bharatiya Janata Partys Pravas campaign to shore up its base in 144 Lok Sabha seats across the country ahead of the 2024 general elections 16 of these seats are in MaharashtraSuresh Dhanorkar of Congress is the sitting MP from the Chandrapur LS constituency earlier represented by former Union minister Hansraj Ahir of BJPPuri underlined the need for constructive opposition in the country for development But there is no leader who can give a fight to PM Narendra Modi in the upcoming general elections he addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever