#GUWAHATI : The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is readying North East Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for development of the hydrocarbon sector in the region.
It has started discussions with different stakeholders on the draft proposal. Assam-based Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) in association with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organised an interactive session on the vision document recently.
“A comprehensive map of hydrocarbon resources in Northeast India needs to be developed. This will help potential investors invest in the region,” a senior official in the ministry told ET.
He said there are four refineries in Assam and the ministry wants to evolve a common marketing strategy for them which will utilise the core competency of these refineries.
Northeast India accounts for 10% of India’s total oil and gas production. Over the years the production of oil and gas in Assam has been declining due to various reasons.
The official said the road map for investment in pipelines which include crude oil, natural gas and LPG will be prepared. The export market in neighbouring countries including Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar will also be explored to market the products of Northeastern refineries, he said.
There is a proposal to develop Assam as the hub of wax production, the official said. “Massive capacity addition of NRL with investment of Rs 20,000 crore for increasing its refining capacity to 9 million metric tonnes per annum from 3 mmtpa is part of the vision document and construction of crude pipeline from Paradip in Orissa to Numaligarh (integrated project with refinery expansion),” he said.
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