Barsu Refinery Protest 2023: Soil Testing, Detentions, Tear Gas

On 25 April 2023 women from villages around Barsu and Solgaon in Ratnagiri district's Rajapur taluka lay on the road to stop officials reaching a plateau where soil testing was to begin for the Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPCL) project. Police detained 111 people that day, the Indian Express reported, and on 28 April used tear gas and held 167 more. The Shinde government said it was only a survey and nothing would proceed without consent. No refinery has been built; in 2025 the Centre said the 60 MMTPA plan had no future.

111people detained on 25 Apr 2023, most of them women, per the Indian Express and Free Press Journal

167protesters apprehended on 28 Apr 2023, per police quoted by PTI

~1,000constables, 120 officers and two SRPF companies deployed at the site, per PTI

Rs 3 lakh croreestimated cost of the 60 MMTPA refinery-petrochemical complex, per the 2018 MoU

70%share of locals who back the project, as claimed by CM Shinde

6gram panchayats that passed resolutions against the refinery in 2021-22, per documents seen by Newslaundry

Key takeaways

The refinery moved to Barsu after the Nanar site was dropped in 2019; Uddhav Thackeray proposed Barsu as Chief Minister in January 2022 and later backed the protesters.
Detention counts range from over 30 women (an official) to 111 (Indian Express) on 25 April; protesters' claim of over 500 was denied by police.
Officials confirmed tear gas on 28 April; reports of a lathicharge are attributed to the press and opposition.
The state said it was only a feasibility survey and land would not be taken without consent; protesters disputed its consent figures.

Background: from Nanar to Barsu

On 11 April 2018 Indian Oil, BPCL and HPCL signed a memorandum with Saudi Aramco to build RRPCL, a refinery able to process 1.2 million barrels of crude a day (60 MMTPA) with a petrochemicals complex of about 18 million tonnes a year. The cost was put at about Rs 3 lakh crore PIB. RRPCL said the project would create up to 150,000 jobs and called suggestions of environmental damage baseless Reuters via Gulf News.

The first site was Nanar. Farmers refused to give up land, and in November 2018 Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the Assembly the acquisition process had been stayed Reuters via Gulf News. In March 2019 the state scrapped a May 2017 notification to acquire 5,932 hectares across 14 villages in Ratnagiri and two in Sindhudurg PTI via Business Standard. ThePrint reported that the BJP wanted the Shiv Sena as an ally for the 2019 elections and dropped Nanar two months before the polls ThePrint.

In February 2020 RRPCL sought to move the project to Gujarat, and the Thackeray government looked for other sites in Maharashtra The Tribune. It picked Barsu-Dhopeshwar, across a river from Nanar, saying the land was uncultivated ThePrint.

Thackeray's letter and the change of government

On 12 January 2022 Thackeray wrote to Prime Minister Modi that the state could make 1,300 acres available at Barsu and 2,144 acres at Nate for the refinery, Industries Minister Uday Samant said, quoting it as saying 90 per cent of the land had no settlements or trees PTI via Business Standard.

The Thackeray government fell in June 2022. Samant became Industries Minister and guardian minister of Ratnagiri, and Thackeray's faction began supporting the protesters Frontline via Janata Weekly. The local Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA, Rajan Salvi, continued to back the project PTI via Deccan Herald.

Local bodies had already objected. Newslaundry reported that the gram panchayats of Shivane Khurd, Devache Gothane, Solgaon, Ambolgad, Goval and Dhopeshwar passed resolutions against the refinery in 2021 and 2022 Newslaundry. Frontline reported a gram sabha resolution by the Dhopeshwar-Barsu group in March 2022, while Thackeray was still in office Frontline via Janata Weekly. No formal referendum on the project was found in the sources reviewed.

Tension rose in February 2023 when Shashikant Warishe, a journalist covering the refinery, died after being run over in Rajapur. Land dealer Pandharinath Amberkar, the subject of his article that morning, was arrested and booked for murder PTI via Deccan Herald.

The soil survey and the protests

RRPCL needed a land feasibility report from Engineers India Ltd, including soil testing. If the data were positive, land acquisition would follow. An MIDC regional officer said drilling would take place at 76 locations, and 46 landowners had consented Frontline via Janata Weekly. Free Press Journal, citing sources, put the testing points at 89 Free Press Journal.

21-22 Apr 2023
Leaders removed
Orders under Section 144(2) CrPC barred eight protest leaders from Rajapur taluka from 21 April to 31 May and from posting material that might incite a law-and-order situation LiveLaw. On 22 April police took activists Satyajit Chavan and Mangesh Chavan into preventive detention, saying it was to avoid untoward incidents SabrangIndia. The tehsil barred gatherings within one kilometre of the drilling sites from 22 April to 1 May SabrangIndia.
25 Apr 2023, morning
Women on the road
After a night-long vigil by about 2,000 villagers, a protester told Newslaundry Newslaundry, women lay on the ground to stop official vehicles. An official said more than 30 women were detained and hundreds of police deployed PTI via Business Standard. The day's total reached 111, booked for rioting, unlawful assembly, wrongful restraint and disobeying a public order, the Indian Express reported Scroll.
25-26 Apr 2023
Released on bail
Superintendent of Police Dhananjay Kulkarni said those held were produced in court and released on bail, and denied protesters' claims that over 500 were detained Scroll. The Devache Gothane protester said they were freed around 1.30 am after signing a paper they could not read Newslaundry.
28 Apr 2023
Tear gas, MP detained
Police used tear gas to clear protesters who had refused to leave after four days, an official said. Vinayak Raut was detained and released in the evening, and 167 protesters were to be produced in the Rajapur court PTI via ThePrint. Deccan Herald reported "mild caning" Deccan Herald.
4 May 2023
High Court hearing
The Bombay High Court questioned how the orders against the eight leaders could be passed, and the state agreed to withdraw them LiveLaw.
6 May 2023
Thackeray at Barsu
Denied permission for a rally, Thackeray met villagers, while BJP and Shiv Sena leaders marched in Rajapur in support of the refinery PTI via ThePrint.

Force on 28 April: what each side said

Claim · Free Press Journal About 10 women and four police were injured when women tried to enter the survey area, and police used "minor lathi-charge and tear gas shells to protect themselves from the aggressive mob" Free Press Journal. Claim · Opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi called it "brutal force" Free Press Journal; Congress chief Nana Patole said the government was "acting in a dictatorial manner" Deccan Herald. Officials confirmed the tear gas; no official statement on a lathicharge was found.

The protesters' account and the government's account

Protesters' account

Villagers said the refinery would harm Konkan's ecology, mango and cashew orchards and fishing Newslaundry. Claim · Protesters They said the survey went ahead despite gram sabha resolutions and without consent; activist Deepak Joshi said an RTI reply showed no permission had been taken for the survey. Nitin Jathar said journalists were told not to cover the protests Newslaundry. Committee chairman Amol Bole called MIDC's consent figures "a white lie", saying local farmers had given no consent letters and outside buyers were not more than 10 per cent Frontline via Janata Weekly. Locals also cited ancient rock carvings on the plateau Scroll.

Government and project account

Government's position Shinde said: "We will not proceed without the local people's consent," claimed over 70 per cent of locals backed the project for jobs, and said the state would explain its benefits to the rest PTI via ThePrint. He also said: "We have undertaken boring and soil testing procedures etc. We are not immediately starting the Barsu project" Free Press Journal. Samant said the survey was to find out whether the area was feasible, farmers would not be pressured, and owners of 2,900 of 5,000 acres had given consent letters PTI via Business Standard. He told ThePrint: "This doesn't mean we are going ahead with the project there" ThePrint.

Thackeray's shift and the political row

Shinde said: "A former chief minister himself had suggested the Barsu site to the Union government. After losing the CM's post, he is opposing the project. One can not have such double standards" PTI via Business Standard. Fadnavis called the Thackerays "anti-development leaders" Frontline via Janata Weekly. Sanjay Raut accepted that Thackeray had suggested Barsu but said the letter "counts no value to us" if people refuse to give their land Scroll.

At Barsu on 6 May Thackeray said: "take this (refinery) project to Gujarat and bring our good projects to Maharashtra." He conceded he had recommended Barsu, but not at the cost of "breaking the heads of protesters", and said: "I had given a letter (recomending Barsu) through some understanding or misunderstanding. That was not my final consent." Union Minister Narayan Rane replied that the Sena opposed every major Konkan project PTI via ThePrint. NCP leader Ajit Pawar, then in opposition, asked the government to stop the survey until a peaceful solution was found PTI via Business Standard.

Outcome

Detentions: Over 30 to 111 on 25 April; 167 on 28 April, per police. All released, per the SP and PTI.
Injuries: About 10 women and four police on 28 April, per Free Press Journal. No deaths reported.
Court: Orders against eight leaders withdrawn before the Bombay High Court on 4 May 2023.
Survey: Completed under police protection, according to Land Conflict Watch Land Conflict Watch.

What happened to the refinery, 2023 to 2026

In November 2024 Swarajya, citing the Times of India, reported that the Centre was shifting plans for two refineries of 10-15 million tonnes each from Ratnagiri to Gujarat, with ONGC and Aramco, and Andhra Pradesh, with BPCL Swarajya. On 24 January 2025 Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the Ratnagiri refinery had no future at 60 MMTPA and that three refineries of about 20 MMTPA each were being discussed, locations not yet decided. NCP's Sunil Tatkare said a smaller refinery could still come to Maharashtra IANS via Sarkaritel.

Land Conflict Watch, updated in November 2025, lists the conflict as ongoing and says the state declared 300 acres near the site an industrial area in October 2024 Land Conflict Watch. No report of land acquisition or construction for a refinery at Barsu was found up to October 2026.

Questions people ask

Why did villagers protest at Barsu in April 2023?

They opposed soil testing for the RRPCL refinery, fearing harm to orchards, fishing, ecology and ancient rock carvings, and said their gram panchayats had resolved against it.

How many people were detained at Barsu?

An official said over 30 women on the morning of 25 April 2023; the Indian Express put that day's total at 111. Police said 167 were held on 28 April.

Did police use tear gas at Barsu?

Yes, on 28 April 2023, officials said. Deccan Herald reported "mild caning"; opposition parties called it brutal force.

Is the Barsu refinery being built?

No construction has been reported. In January 2025 the Petroleum Minister said a 60 MMTPA plant had no future and smaller refineries were being considered.

Barsu, April 2023: villagers against the Ratnagiri refinery survey

Key takeaways

Background: from Nanar to Barsu

Thackeray's letter and the change of government

The soil survey and the protests

Leaders removed

Women on the road

Released on bail

Tear gas, MP detained

High Court hearing

Thackeray at Barsu