The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved tripling the capacity of the Numaligarh Refinery in Assam to 9 million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa) at a cost of ₹22,594 crore.
The Cabinet also approved the setting up of a crude oil pipeline from Paradip to Numaligarh and a product pipeline from Numaligarh to Siliguri. The project is to be completed within 48 months, after approval and receipt of the statutory clearances.
“The total project cost of ₹22,594 crore will be financed by a mix of debt, equity and viability gap funding (VGF),” the government said. “The debt of ₹15,102 crore will be raised by Numaligarh Refinery Ltd. (NRL) and apart from its internal accrual of ₹2,307 crore, the promoters, namely, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., Oil India Ltd. and Government of Assam (GoA) will contribute to equity.”
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The Centre will provide the project ₹1,020 crore of the VGF.
“The expansion of the refinery will meet the deficit of petroleum products in the northeast,” the government added. “It will also sustain the operations of all northeast refineries by augmenting their crude availability. It will generate direct and indirect employment in Assam.”