BPCL plans over Rs. 16k-crore Assam refinery expansion.

State-run oil refiner-marketer Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. has drawn up plans to ramp up the capacity of its refinery at Numaligarh in Assam's Golaghat district from three million tonnes per annum to nine million tonnes at an investment of Rs. 16,600 crore.

The project includes laying a 1,350-km pipeline to bring in crude from a port on the east coast. While the refinery expansion would cost about Rs. 8,800 crore, the remaining investment is expected to go into laying the pipeline and other assorted facilities.

Company sources said the project would mark the single-largest investment in Assam and boost economic activities in the north-east as well as unlock potential for exporting fuels to India's eastern neighbourhood. Government consultancy firm Engineers India Ltd. is preparing the feasibility report for the project and the pipeline. The BPCL board has discussed the plan but a final call would be taken after the project report and other paperworks are completed.


ET