The ministry of petroleum and natural gas (MoP&NG) has approved Oil India Ltd (OIL) picking up a 10 per cent stake in the three million tonne Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) via the private placement route. It is also seperately considering a proposal to compensate the refinery for its locational adversity, which impedes its viability.
The ministry has accepted suggestion made by the Nitish Sengupta Committee which asked the public sector OIL to pick up equity in NRL.
With OIL picking up stake, it will add impetus to oil exploration in Assam, say industry sources.
NRL is also expected to crack Assam crude sourced from OIL and ONGC. The refinery was primarily set up as a result of the Assam Accord signed by the Union government.
NRL, set up at a cost of Rs 2,724 crore, is being set up jointly with BPCL holding 32 per cent equity, IBP 19 per cent, Assam government 10 per cent and the rest would have been raised from public.
