Work on MRPL third phase to take place outside Mangalore SEZ

Mangalore: The third phase work of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) is outside the Mangalore SEZ (special economic zone) project, even though Mangalore SEZ Ltd (MSEZL) is handling the land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) issues for it, said Mr I.S.N. Prasad, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of MSEZL.

Speaking at the launch of the Web site of MSEZL here on Tuesday, Mr Prasad said that it was not possible for the Customs Department to agree to delineate this as a separate unit, as products move back and forth from the third phase unit.

“Therefore it was decided to keep the MRPL phase-3 project outside the SEZ, though Mangalore SEZ is handling the land acquisition and R&R related issues for that part of land,” he said. Of the 1,900 acres of land acquired for SEZ project, 200 acres are meant for third phase work.

The third phase project of MRPL will result in expansion of refining capacity from 9.69 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 15 MTPA.

Mr Prasad said that 1,453 acres of land have been notified for SEZ. “We are in possession of another 200 acres, and we need to go for an amendment of notification. We will be doing it shortly,” he said.

MSEZL has obtained the clearances required for the land available with it. Almost 300 families have vacated from the land acquired so far.

He made it clear that there will not be any forced acquisition of land for the project. “We want to clarify that the additional land of 2,035 acres that we are acquiring will be on a consent basis as required under the SEZ rules. It is not going to be forced acquisition. We would be proceeding on consent award basis for that land,” he said.

Stating that the major stakeholders of MSEZL – Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Karnataka Government – are looking at economic growth of the region, Mr Prasad said they cannot be irresponsible on any issue. “We are accountable to people, Parliament and state legislature,” he said.

Mr N. Vinay Hegde, President of Nitte Education Trust, launched the Web site of MSEZL on the occasion.