Himanta Biswa Sarma lauds Numaligarh Refinery Limited for being upgraded to 'Schedule A' CPSE by GoI

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma lauded the Government of India's decision to upgrade Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) to 'Schedule A' Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE).

The upgradation to Schedule A was notified by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on July 4, 2023. 

This comes after NRL's strong financial performance and operational efficiency and contribution to the economic development of the Northeast region.

Taking to his Twitter handle, Assam chief minister Himanra Biswa Sarma wrote, "This recognition is also a thumping endorsement of  Assam Government’s decision to enhance its shareholding in the NRL. With its world-class infrastructure, NRL is fast emerging as a major refining destination."

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NRL is one of India's top 20 CPSEs in terms of both sales revenue and profitability. NRL is regarded as a high-performing model refinery in India, with industry-leading data for distillate production, specific energy usage, and gross refining profit. NRL has begun exporting petroleum products to surrounding nations, establishing its worldwide profile and acting as a catalyst in boosting the GoI's Act East Policy.

With a capacity of 3 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA), NRL is the largest refinery in Northeast India, and it is now executing a giant refinery development project to treble its refining capacity to 9 MMTPA, as well as installing a trans-national crude oil pipeline from Paradip in Odisha. NRL is now conducting projects in the region with investments of Rs. 35,000 crores and is recognised as one of the largest investments in the oil and gas sector.

The advancement to Schedule A status now qualifies NRL for Navratna status, which confers more financial autonomy. This will enable the organisation to take on larger and more complicated projects, as well as make quick decisions on joint ventures, strategic alliances, and special purpose entities for strategic expansion.