The Chipi Airport, a gleaming gateway to Sindhudurg district which was inaugurated in 2021, has inspired hopes of an economic transformation in the Konkan region. For decades, locals have migrated to Mumbai and Pune in search of better employment opportunities, but the promise of economic growth, driven by enhanced connectivity, has kindled optimism.
Yet as the region prepares for the Assembly polls on November 20, the airport is but one part of a mosaic of political and economic issues. In every election cycle, voters in this coastal stretch of Maharashtra grapple with a familiar dilemma: the potential benefits of development versus the costs to their cherished natural environment. The potential for new jobs and entrepreneurial ventures in tourism and agriculture offers a tantalizing glimpse of a future in which the Konkan need not rely solely on its distant cities for prosperity.
While Chipi heralds new opportunities, the larger debate on development in the Konkan revolves around more controversial projects, none more divisive than the Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPCL). The proposed mega-refinery at Barsu, projected to bring investment and thousands of jobs to the region, has instead ignited fierce protests.
The ruling Mahayuti coalition led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had largely remained cautious over openly discussing the refinery during the Lok Sabha polls even when both Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis had expressed keenness in reviving the Rs. 3.5 lakh crore oil refinery project at Nanar which the opposition Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) has strenuously opposed.
The refinery project had earlier been scrapped by then CM Fadnavis (2014-19), following opposition from the BJP’s then ally, the Thackeray’s undivided Shiv Sena. Thackeray’s Sena (UBT) has now positioned itself as the guardian of the environment, calling for sustainable development that aligns with local sentiment.
The Konkan’s environmental credentials are strong, and its history of opposing large industrial projects, such as the Dabhol power plant and the Jaitapur nuclear project, remains fresh in the minds of its people. Anti-refinery protestors argue that their livelihoods, rooted in agriculture and fishing, would be irrevocably harmed by pollution from the refinery, just as previous generations fought to protect the region from industrial encroachment.
The BJP’s strongman in this region is Narayan Rane, the Union Minister for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, who had won the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha constituency in the general election in June by trouncing the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s candidate and former MP Vinayak Raut.
Rane has championed industrial development, but even his stance on the refinery remains carefully calibrated to avoid alienating local voters.
Then again, besides big industrial projects, many Konkan residents demand more investment in sectors like agro-processing, fisheries and eco-tourism (for which the region offers ample opportunities) to ensure sustainable, long-term growth.
Konkan’s voters want growth, but they demand that it comes on their terms. In this election, as in many before it, the question remains can Maharashtra’s leaders deliver progress without sacrificing the natural and cultural wealth that makes the Konkan unique?
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