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Public sector oil firms will invest ₹6,000 crore in Assam during the current financial year on various activities, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan today said.
“In this fiscal, ₹6,000 crore investment will be made in Assam by all public sector oil firms. This amount will be invested for implementing various plans, including capacity expansion. We have already started the work,” Pradhan told reporters here.
The investment will be made by the companies for EMP, setting up new pipelines, expanding capacities and marketing among others, he added.
“As per the Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for North East India, a total of ₹1,30,000 crore will be invested in the region.
Out of this, ₹80,000 crore will be spent in Assam,” the minister said.
As part of its plans to develop Assam’s hydrocarbon sector, the Centre will put 12 small oilfields of the state under auction along with 55 other such discoveries across the country, he added.
“All these 67 oilfields were discovered during the last 8-40 years and are with Oil India and ONGC. As these are small oilfields, they were not so financially viable. Now we are targeting to garner ₹30,000 crore from the auctioning of these 67 blocks,” Pradhan said.
For 12 blocks in Assam, the Centre will do a roadshow here from tomorrow to attract bidders for the auction, which begins on July 15.
Pradhan said the Centre is working to make North-East a hub for hydrocarbons for the entire South-East Asia by developing crude import infrastructure and promoting trade between the region and SAARC countries, mainly with Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan.
“North-East India has four refineries with a combined installed capacity of 7 MMTPA, all of them in Assam. Our target is to expand the refining capacity of the region to 16 MMTPA,” he added.
He urged Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who accompanied him during the press conference, to waive the entry tax for imported crude into the State.
Pradhan claimed that the per capita consumption of liquid petroleum product in Assam is 62 kg as against the national average of 138 kg, while the same in respect to electricity consumption stands at 254 KW as compared to 1,000 KW in entire India.
He said the companies will set up an additional 5,000 km pipelines for crude, product, LPG and natural gas, besides enhancing the capacity of the LPG bottling plant.
Pradhan said 20 lakh poor women will be given LPG connection over the next three years in Assam, including 15 lakh under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
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