For Politicians, whether they are in power or not, to be down in politics and power is not new to India’s Politics. The recent controversy over the pulling down the VAT exemption to the IOCL’s Paradip Refinery by the Odisha government and counterattack by the petroleum ministry’s by threatening to withdraw further investment is another evidence to it.
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| Defaced BJP Poster in Bhubaneswar - File photo |
Last year in February, just a day before state-owned Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) dedication ceremony, Supporters of both Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lodged dozens of complaints against each other. Odisha Police remained ambivalent to maintain law and order situation from Bhubaneswar to Paradip. There were no serious issues either.
When the refinery started its commercial production, in November 2015, mudslinging between BJD and BJP also started. Both the parties want to take credit of the establishment of this refinery. As BJD was under denigration after the South Korean Steel Company withdrawn 52 thousand crore project from Kujang, a few kilometer from the Refinery, and it wanted to regain people’s appreciation through this project. On the other side, Union Minister of State for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan wanted to play this industry card to fulfill his Chief Minister ambition. Of course much before the refinery started its production Mr Pradhan had engaged most of his own man in the commercial activities of the plant. The local BJD leaders could not get much success to organise even a strong labor union.
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| Torn BJD poster in Bhubaneswar during the Poster war- File photo |
In such situation, when Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India in an official statement took the credit for this project and said it will be the gateway of the development of the ‘Eastern Region’, the frustration of BJD multiplied. Local BJD MLA and state Excise minister Dr. Damodar Rout chosen to counter the BJP propaganda but failed.
Before the dedication ceremony, IOCL, BJP’s had taken vigorous propaganda through both offline and online media. Life size pictures of Narendra Modi, Dharmendra Pradhan, several types of dazzling hoardings and colorful banners floated every nook corner of the state. Marginalized by the BJP in the publicity, BJD soon restored to a similar type of publicity campaign throughout the state, separately.
On 6th February, 2016, just 24 hours to go before the dedication of refinery BJP complained that BJD supporters torn down and defacing the hoardings bearing the figures of Narendra Modi and other central ministers. Besides this Party alleged that state police department also helped in the act. Conversely, BJD complained that long before when the Biju Patnaik was chief minister of Odisha he visualized and proposed to set up an oil refinery here. Moreover, state’s ruling party urged that hence the project has come into force because of state government’s MOU to give land and financial support (in the form of relieving VAT for 11 years) they must be given credit. The BJP government’s act in a federal system is selfish and uncharitable.
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| During the dedication ceremony of IOCL Refinery- File Photo |
Since the inception of Refinery, several controversies breed in regular intervals. More than four attempt murder incidents, two cold blood murders of trade union leaders, the arrest of Odisha Stevedores Ltd’s owner Mahima Mishra in connection with a murder case, Arrest of Bapi cirkhel, a congress leader and union leader, storm over the Nitin Gadkari’s relative’s alleged involvement in port transport business are few cases happened in the last one year.
Recently, the rise of BJP and fall of BJD in the Panchayat Poll made the political enmity into more or less personal. On 20th February, 2017, state finance minister Pradeep Amat declared that state will no longer bear the burden of revenue loss given to the IOCL in the mode of VAT exemption.
Justifying the move he said that as per its 2004 MoU with Odisha government, IOCL was to complete the project by 2009-10 but it started commercial production in November 2015.
The volume of interest-free credit for 11 years has now increased to Rs 69,892 crore due to delay in execution of the project. Therefore, the state government will have to sustain a loss of about Rs 22,745 crore, he added.
Following the state government’s decision IOCL threatened to relook plans to invest 52 thousand crore expansion plan of refinery and setting up a petrochemical project.
Paradip refinery is a public project and every taxpayers have a stake in it. If government plans or establishes a project for the benefit of the general public and welfare of the country as a whole, it is the responsibility of the both state and union government to make it more economically viable and people oriented. But the case of Paradip refinery involves the ugly political self-interest of the ambitious politicians who want to fetch power burying the public interest.
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