The Vidarbha Economic Development Council (VED) and all the Industry and Trade associations of Nagpur – VIA, MIA, BMA, VTA, NVCC, CAMIT, COSIA, Laghu Udyog Bharati, Vidarbha Plastic Industries Association, Electronics Manufacturing Association, Nagpur Chamber of Commerce are making a common demand for a techno-economic feasibility study to be conducted immediately for the setting up of a Refinery and Petrochemical complex (RPC) in Vidarbha.
The RPC crude pipeline could be laid along the Samruddhi Expressway and the RPC can be set up on land earmarked for NIMZ (National Investment & Manufacturing Zone) at Kuhi and once set up here, it would be highly beneficial for central India. Many existing industries in Central India are already consuming a bulk of refinery products, either importing them or procuring them from long-distance coastal refineries. This refinery would help them to save cost of products as well as logistics and inventory since large industries have huge impacts on positive sides. In the central Indian region where 30 cement plants, 5 aluminum smelters, 14 steel plants, huge coal, iron ore, manganese, bauxite mines within a 500 km radius area are active, it gives the assurance of consumption for a range of refinery products. All these facts give tremendous support to the investor coming to Vidarbha for this project.
The proposed 60 MMTPA Refining and Petrochemical complex can attract investments of Rs. 4 lakh Cr. in Vidarbha directly.
In this context, a VED delegation on 29th June 2021 to New Delhi, led by Shri Devendra Fadnavis, Hon’ble Former Chief Minister, Govt. of Maharashtra met Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon’ble erstwhile Minister heading the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and requested him for a techno-economic feasibility study for the setting up of this Refinery-cum-petrochemical complex in Vidarbha. Convinced about the project through our talks and PPT, he immediately agreed to initiate the feasibility study for the Petrochemical project.
.
Soon after our meeting, the portfolio underwent a change and the Ministry of Petrochemical & Natural Gas came to be headed by Hon’ble Minister, Shri. Hardeep Singh Puri. VED has been pursuing the conducting of the study consistently, but nothing has come of it so far.
VED has appealed to several leaders of the region and in this connection, Nitin Gadkari, Hon’ble Minister for Road Transport & Highways, GoI, and Praful Patel – Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, have written to Mr. Pradhan and Mr. Puri. Other leaders of the region, Ashok Nete, Sunil Mendhe, Hon’ble Members of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Dr. Vikas Mahatme, Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha Ajay Sancheti, and Vijay Darda, Former MPs Rajya Sabha, D. Fadnavis, Former CM, GoM, have all written to the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas too stressing the imperative need for the feasibility study to be conducted at the earliest. Nitin Gadkari in his communiqué to Uddhav Thackeray, Hon’ble Chief Minister, GoM and Subhash Desai, Hon’ble Minister for Industries, GoM, suggested to them to consider the setting up of the project in Vidarbha taking upon himself the responsibility of providing the basics – land, water and power, which would go a long way in setting up this mega-project.
