Land for Ratnagiri refinery project suggested by Uddhav when he was CM: Minister

Maharashtra Industries Minister and Shiv Sena leader Uday Samant on Tuesday said the Barsu village site for a proposed refinery project in Ratnagiri district was suggested by then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray who had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra ModiSamants statement comes amid protests by local people in the coastal district against the soil survey work for the multibillion dollar refinery projectHe alleged that misunderstandings are purposely spread against the project for deriving political mileage and slammed the politics of double standards an apparent jibe at Uddhav and his son Aaditya ThackerayOn January 12 2022 then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggesting that the state government can make available 1300 acres of land and another 2144 acres of land in Natya area for the refinery He suggested the Barsu site for the project Samant told a press conference in NashikHe claimed Thackerays letter also mentioned that there are no settlements and trees on 90 per cent of this land and therefore there is no need to displace any tree or houseThe letter also claimed the refinery project will not cause any environmental damage The project will strengthen the economic condition of the state and the state GDP will increase by 85 per cent It will also reduce the import duty on the petrochemical products and therefore the project should be established at Barsu Samant said quoting the letterWhen asked about protests the industries minister said farmers would not be pressured for land He claimed out of 5000 acres of land needed for the refinery project people owning 2900 acres of land have already given their consent lettersHe said the refinery project is being opposed now only because Eknath Shinde is the chief minister of the stateI dont know why this letter was written and with whom discussions were held Had Uddhav Thackeray been the CM the project would have progressed till now Samant saidEarlier in the day Opposition leader Ajit Pawar demanded that protests by locals against the refinery project be handled sensitively and that the state government stop the survey work till a peaceful solution is foundSamant said the protests are an attempt to create misunderstandingHe said NCP chief Sharad Pawar called him over the phone to take updates about the ground situation in Barsu village I am not going to meet Pawar the minister said replying to a queryWe are holding discussions with farmers and understanding their problems Even today I discussed the issue with CM Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra FadnavisWe will clear all misunderstandings of farmers Samant saidHe said the scale of the agitation has come down after a dialogue was held with farmers in BarsuSamant alleged a politics of double standards was played as some people who had targeted the ShindeFadnavis government over Maharashtra losing some key projects to other statesIn a press conference held at Shiv Sena Bhavan in Mumbai two months ago a hue and cry was made about projects going out of Maharashtra But now when we have brought projects into the state after hard efforts they are ready to take the creditHe said pressers were held on Maharashtra losing Vedanta Foxconn Airbus and BDP projectsAlso Read Ajit Pawar calls for sensitive handling of protests against Ratnagiri projectNow this refinery project is coming in Maharashtra Whats the reason for opposing it On one hand they blame us for projects going out of the state On the one hand they claim they are not against development but on the other hand they oppose the upcoming projects This is a farce and double standard politics Samant allegedHe demanded clarification on the letter written by UddhavOf the 100 bores in Barsu 65 people have given their consent for bores Of the total 5000acre land needed for the project people owning 2900 acres of land have given their consent letters How can we call it opposition to the project he saidSpeaking about the survey at Barsu village which has triggered protests Samant said the exercise is aimed to find if the area is feasible for the refinery project or notBased on the findings of the survey it will be seen whether the project can be set up or not at the site A DPR Detailed Project Report will be prepared he addedSawant said a white paper will be issued in the next 78 days about the issue of Vedanta Foxconn Airbus and BDP projectsOpposition parties had alleged that these projects went out of Maharashtra owing to the failure of the Shindeled governmentSamant said auto major Mahindra amp Mahindra is making a Rs 6500 crore expansion in NashikNo project is going anywhere from Nashik In all new projects worth Rs 3300 crore including Reliance Pharma Rs 2100 crore and Pirmal Rs 1200 crore are also coming to Nashik the minister saidThis 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