India's Crude Oil Refining Gets A Boost: Numaligarh Refinery To Triple Capacity By 2025

India's journey towards energy self-sufficiency is poised for a significant boost with the expansion of the Numaligarh Refinery, expected to be completed by early 2025.

In a post on X, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Puri highlighted that the expansion of the Numaligarh Refinery in Assam is currently underway. Once finished, it will increase its refining capacity to 9 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA).

Commissioned in 2000, the refinery, located in Golaghat District of Assam, initially had a crude processing capacity of 3 MMTPA, aimed at processing indigenous crude from Assam. The refinery primarily produces motor spirit (MS) and high-speed diesel (HSD) conforming to BS-IV/VI specifications.

The Numaligarh Refinery Expansion Project (NREP) involves constructing a new refinery with a crude processing capacity of 6 MMTPA at an approved cost of Rs 28,026 crore, with completion targeted for early 2025.

The project also includes establishing a crude oil import terminal at Paradip Port in Odisha and laying approximately 1,640 kilometres of crude oil pipelines for transporting imported crude oil to Numaligarh.

The crude pipeline passes through five states and all major rivers of East India, namely Ganga, Jia Bharali, Subansiri and Brahmaputra.

Additionally, the project is integrated with a  654 km product pipeline from Numaligarh to Siliguri, where Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) operates its own marketing terminal for product distribution.

NRL is a public sector oil company under the administrative control of the Union Ministry of Petroleum. In May 2021, the Assam government increased its stake in the refinery from 12.35 per cent to 26 per cent, investing Rs 2,187 crore, marking the highest-ever investment by the state government in any PSU.

As the largest of the four refineries operating in Assam, NRL significantly contributes to the state's overall economic development.