Cabinet approves Rs 22,594-cr expansion of Numaligarh refinery

The Cabinet on Wednesday approved a Rs 22,594-crore expansion of Numaligarh refinery in Assam for increasing the capacity by 6 million tonnes per annum to meet the fuel demand of north-eastern India.

The central government will provide a Rs 1,020 crore viability gap funding for the project, said Coal and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal in a news briefing on Cabinet decisions.

Numaligarh Refinery Ltd, in which 61.65 per cent is owned by Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), currently refines 3 million tonnes of crude oil a year. The refinery was set up in 1999 following the Assam Accord.

Goyal said the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave its approval to the expansion of the refinery to 9 million tonnes per annum.

"It (the project) involves setting up of a crude oil pipeline from Paradip (in Odisha) to Numaligarh and product pipeline from Numaligarh to Siliguri (in West Bengal) at a cost of Rs 22,594 crore. The project is to be completed within