In a significant development, 200 acres of land was allotted to Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) by the Paradip Port Trust (PPT) on a long-term lease to set up NRL’s Crude Oil terminal in Paradip.
This has been a significant milestone achieved by the NRL in its concerted march towards implementing its mega integrated refinery expansion project.
The crude oil terminal will enable the NRL to import crude oil at Paradip port to meet its requirement post-refinery expansion from 3 to 9 MMTPA.
An MoM was signed to this effect on Saturday in Bhubaneswar between the senior chief general manager (Projects), NRL, AP Chakraborty, and deputy secretary, PPT, K. Trirumoolar.
The MoM signing ceremony was attended by PPT chairman Rinkesh Roy, NRL managing director SK Barua, NRL director (Technical) BJ Phukan, NRL director (Finance) I. Mittra and senior officials from both the organizations.
An amount of Rs. 20 crore was handed over by the NRL to PPT as an initial deposit for the land allocated to the refinery.
NRL has embarked on a major refinery expansion project to treble its capacity from the existing 3 MMTPA to 9 MMTPA at a project cost of more than Rs. 22,000 crore, the highest ever investment in the Northeast of India.
Formal approval from the government of India for this project was received in January 2019.
Nestling in the sylvan environs of the Brahmaputra valley where the beautiful rendezvous of water and land throws up myriad colours, NRL was set up at Numaligarh in Assam’s Golaghat district in accordance with the provisions made in the historic Assam Accord signed on August 15, 1985.
The refinery has been conceived as a vehicle for the speedy industrial and economic development of the region.
The Numaligarh Refinery Limited was dedicated to the nation by the then Prime Minister AB Vajpayee on July 9, 1999.
NRL has been able to display creditable performance since the commencement of commercial production in October 2000.