Cong MP opposes privatisation of Assam's Numaligarh Refinery

Opposing the privatisation of the Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL), a 3 MMTPA refinery set up as a joint venture in Assam, Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi on Friday urged the Centre to ensure that it's taken over by a PSU.

He said the central government should buy at least 51 per cent stake of the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) in the NRL or increase the Oil India Limited's stake in the NRL to 51 per cent from the current 26 per cent.

The Assam government can also increase its stake to 26 per cent in the refinery, he said.

Bordoloi's demand comes in the backdrop of the government proposal to privatise the BPCL.

"When the BPCL will be privatised, the NRL will automatically go into private hands as the BPCL holds over 61 per cent stake in the NRL. Since the refinery was set up in accordance with the provisions made in the Assam Accord signed in 1985, I oppose it and demand that the NRL should remain under government control," the MP from The Nowgong Lok Sabha constituency said at a press conference here.

He said the NRL's privatisation will not be acceptable to the people of Assam due to their emotional attachment to the 'Accord refinery', as the NRL is popularly known, and its immense contribution to the society and the state.

Therefore, privatisation of the NRL will push the state onto the brink of turmoil, he added.

The BPCL holds 61.65 per cent shares in the NRL, the Oil India Limited holds 26 per cent and the Assam government holds the remaining 12.35 per cent.

While taking any route for continuous government control over the NRL, Bordoloi said, the government should ensure that the new owner has full commitment for the refinery's expansion.

The government should also ensure that incentive envisaged in the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs approval for the expansion is available post change in the ownership of the NRL, he said.

The MP said the central government has recently sanctioned expansion of the refinery from its present capacity of 3 to 9 Million Metric Tonnes per Annum (MMTPA) at a capital cost of Rs 22,594 crore.

The government of India has also sanctioned an amount of Rs 1,020 crore as Viability Gap Funding (VGF) and agreed for continuation of existing excise duty benefit to the expanded capacity.

"Expansion of the NRL is going to be the single biggest investment in the oil and gas sector in the northeastern region," Bordoloi said.