NRL achieves financial closure for its 6 MMTPA expansion project

New Delhi: Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) on Thursday said it has achieved financial closure for its upcoming 6 MMTPA refinery expansion project by tying up for a project debt of Rs 18,904 crore with consortium of 12 lender banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI).

The loan agreement signing ceremony was held in Guwahati on December 30 and was attended by senior officials from all the member consortium banks, representatives from Oil India Limited, the Government of Assam and other stakeholders. "This is the largest fund-raising by a single borrower in North East India," NRL said in a press release issued on December 30.

NRL is pursuing a mega integrated refinery capacity expansion project to treble its refining capacity from 3 MMTPA to 9 MMTPA at a cost of Rs 28,026 crore. As a part of the project, the company is also laying a crude oil pipeline (approx. length 1,640 Km) from Paradip, Odisha to Numaligarh along with a Crude Oil Import Terminal at Paradip for receipt of imported crude.

"The project is a prestigious and landmark project in the NE Region and is being pursued as part of Government's NE Hydrocarbon Vision 2030. The project will significantly contribute to the fulfilment of the country's growing demand for hydrocarbon products and development of the entire North-Eastern region," it added.

Further the project shall secure the availability of crude oil feedstock for North East based refineries and enable the export of hydrocarbon products to neighbouring countries. NRL along with OIL and EIL and strong support from the Government of Assam will be able to achieve tremendous synergy and contribute immensely towards ensuring energy security of the nation and achieving the targets set by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG).

Oil India Limited (OIL)'s Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) and Chairman of NRL SC Mishra in his audio-visual message extended his best wishes on this momentous occasion and also committed to extend continuous support for this endeavour.

While SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara in his audio-visual message expressed his delight in being the lead banker in fuelling the growth story of North East through the Numaligarh Refinery Expansion Project.

NRL's Director ( Finance ) I Mittra described the event as a historic day for NRL as it has inked the financial closure to the largest project being implemented by a corporate till date in the North East Region of India, in record time.

NRL's Managing Director SK Barua congratulated all the bankers for being a part of a growth story that is expected to change the developmental landscape of North East India.

NRL's Director (Technical) BJ Phukan thanked all bankers for reposing faith in NRL and informed them that NRL is adopting smarter ways to implement the project & monitor its progress.

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