Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has asked Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to consider shifting a proposed 60 million metric tonnes-per annum refinery and petrochemicals complex project to Vidarbha from coastal Ratnagiri.

The project, which was to come up in the Ratnagiri district, is stalled due to opposition by local organizations and other reasons. In a letter to Thackeray and state industries minister Subhash Desai dated March 12, Gadkari highlighted how the shifting of the project to Vidarbha (eastern Maharashtra) will benefit the state. The Union minister also included a request letter he had received from Vidarbha Economic Development Council vice president Pradip Maheshwari on the subject, and asked the CM to consider the points raised by the latter.