CCEA Meeting: Rs 22,594 crore to increase the capacity of Assam's Numaligarh refinery

Coal and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has sanctioned Rs 22,594 crore to increase the capacity of Assam's Numaligarh refinery by three times to fulfill the petroleum needs in the entire northeast region.

Briefing media persons after the Cabinet and CCEA meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Goyal said the Central government has given its approval to the project for capacity expansion of Numaligarh refinery from three million metric tonne per annum (MMTPA) to 9 MMTPA.

The project involves setting up a crude oil pipeline from Paradip to Numaligarh and product pipeline from Numaligarh to Siliguri at a cost of Rs 22,594 crore. The project is to be completed within a period of 48 months, after approval and receipt of statutory clearances.

"The total project cost of Rs 22,594 crore will be financed by a mix of debt, equity and viability gap funding (VGF). The debt of Rs 15,102 crore will be raised by Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) and apart from its internal accrual of Rs 2,307 crore, the promoters, namely, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Oil India Ltd and Government of Assam (GoA) will contribute to equity. The project will be supported by viability gap funding of Rs 1,020 crore from the Government of India," said Goyal.

The expansion of the refinery will meet the deficit of petroleum products in the northeast. It will also sustain the operations of all north-east refineries by augmenting their crude availability. "It will generate direct and indirect employment in Assam and is a part of the Central government's Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for the northeast," he said.