According to New York Times, India increased the cost estimate of a refinery and petrochemical project, that will be jointly constructed by Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co, by more than 36%, following farmers’ protests on relocating the plant. The project is to be commissioned in 2025.
The refinery is now expected to be built at Roha in the Raigad district, about 100 km (62 miles) south of Mumbai. The cost is estimated to reach the $60 billion, despite the fact that the cost at the signing deal with Saudi Aramco in 2018 was pegged at $44 billion.
The refinery is expected to boost India’s refining capacity by 77% to 8.8 million bpd by 2030.
As stated above, the refinery was planned to be built in Ratnagiri – about 400 km south of Mumbai; However, farmers refused to surrender their land, fearing the project could damage a region famed for its Alphonso mangoes, cashew plantations and fishing hamlets that boast bountiful catches.
Sri Paravaikkarasu, director at Singapore-based consultancy FGE quoted in the New York Times
It is a huge escalation in cost. But since the project is of a mega scale, we expect the investment to be staggered.
Moreover, the 50% of the Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPCL), the company building the project, belongs to state-run companies, Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum.
In the meantime, Saudi Aramco and ADNOC hold the remaining half. B. Ashok, chief executive of RRPCL.
In early August, the Indian Government published the amended Sea Cargo Manifest & Transhipment Regulations 2018 (Regulations framed under the Customs Act, 1962), dealing with the timing and procedures for the delivery and filing of arrival and departure manifests and seek to streamline these processes for vessels carrying imported goods into India, vessels carrying export goods out of India as well as for vessels engaged in coastal carriage.
