Apex court clears Essar's Jamnagar oil refinery

The Supreme Court allowed Essar Oil to go ahead with its Rs 9,800 crore, 12 million tonne Jamnagar oil refinery, which has been held up by a controversy over its pipeline passing through a marine sanctuary at Vadinar in Gujarat.

Delivering its judgment on a special leave petition filed by Essar Oil against a Gujarat High Court order, the Supreme Court said the refinery project could continue because all the necessary environmental clearances had been granted by the Centre and the state government.

It directed the Gujarat government to grant formal authorisation to this effect within a fortnight.

The high court had imposed restrictions on the laying of the pipeline over fears that it would upset the ecology of the neighbouring wildlife sanctuaries.

A number of organisations, like the Halar Utkarsh Samiti and the Jansangharsh Manch, had moved the high court against the company.

Appealing in the Supreme Court against the high court judgment, Essar Oil contented that it had been granted all the necessary permissions which were valid and subsisting.

The two-judge apex court Bench that delivered the judgment comprised Justice Ruma Pal and Justice B N Srikrishna.

"With this order, all the hurdles before Essar Oil in completing the refinery project have been removed. In fact, the proposed route of the Essar pipeline is the same as that of the state-run Indian Oil pipeline in use for several years," an Essar Oil executive said.

According to him, 64 per cent of the work on the refinery is complete and the remaining work is likely to be over by the third quarter of 2005.

The company has started setting up petrol stations and has begun marketing bulk petroleum products.