West Coast Refinery Project

• India and Saudi Arabia recently agreed to speed up the implementation of the $50 billion West Coast refinery project.
• West Coast Refinery Project first conceptualised in 2014, the West Coast refinery project, also known as the Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. (RRPCL), was envisioned as India’s largest greenfield refinery with a capacity of 60 million tonnes per annum and is touted to become the largest integrated refinery and petrochemical facility in the world.
• The project is supposed to be set up on India’s western coast, specifically in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra.
• The refinery is expected to produce around 2 million barrels of oil a day when completed, alongside the various petroleum products that will be produced by attached petrochemical plants.
• Three of India’s leading government-owned public sector undertakings in the oil and gas sector came together in a joint venture partnership called
• RRPCL is a 50:25:25 joint venture formed in 2017 by India’s three national oil companies, Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL).
• In 2019, Saudi Aramco and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) decided to get involved as well, collectively acquiring a 50 percent stake in the project, which is estimated to be worth around Rs 3 lakh crore purely in set-up costs.

INDIA-SAUDI ARABIA STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP COUNCIL

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) recently chaired the first meeting of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council (SPC).
• Strategic Partnership Council established in 2019, aims to enhance the relationship between the two countries and has two main pillars: the Committee on Political, Security, Social, and Cultural Cooperation and the Committee on Economy and Investments.
• These committees have four levels of engagement, including summit-level meetings, ministerial-level discussions, senior officials’ meetings, and joint working groups.
• During their recent meeting, India and Saudi Arabia agreed to expedite the $50-billion West Coast refinery project and identified areas such as energy, defence, semiconductor, and space for intensified cooperation.
• West Coast Refinery Project aims to set up Asia’s largest refinery in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra.
• It is a trilateral project between ARAMCO (Saudi), ADNOC (UAE) and Indian companies.
• India and Saudi Arabia have signed eight agreements during the State visit of Crown Prince and PM of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. These are:
  • Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of
  • Agreement in the field of digitalisation and electronic manufacturing between the IT ministries of both sides
  • Agreement between Central Vigilance Commission of India and its counterpart the Saudi Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority.
  • Agreement between the National Archives.
  • Agreement between Invest India on the Indian side and the Ministry of Investment on Saudi.
  • Agreement between the two EXIM banks
  • Agreement between the Small and Medium Enterprises Bank of two sides, that is SIDBI and the SME Bank of Saudi Arabia
  • Agreement in the field of