Guwahati: Faced with acute shortage of natural gas, Assam looks forward to get connected to the national gas grid as early as possible to tide over the crisis and wants the Oil India Limited (OIL) to bail it out.
Assam’s minister for industry and commerce, Chandra Mohan Patowary on Tuesday informed that existing oil and gas fields in the state were not producing sufficient natural gas to feed all the four refineries in the state, the tea garden factories, fertilizer units and Brahmaputra Crackers and Polymers Limited (BCPL).
“But for adequate supply of natural gas, Assam’s industrial sector would be plunged into a crisis in near future. The state needs to be connected to the national gas grid at Barauni to get sufficient supply of gas,” he said adding if now new oil and gas fields is discovered in the state then the future of hydrocarbon industry here look bleak.
“Government of India has already floated expression of interest (EoI) for laying a 750-kilometer-long gas pipeline from Barauni to Numaligarh in Assam, but so far the response has not been very encouraging at it would cost over Rs 3000 crore and there is problem of land acquisition too,” Patowary said.
Speaking at the sideline of signing of two tripartite MoUs among the Oil India Limited, Guwahati IIT and two entrepreneurs for funding two start-up enterprises for the oil sector here on Tuesday , the minister said, Assam government was happy that the OIL has set aside Rs 50 crore for funding start-up projects in the state.
He said the government was looking forward to OIL to come forward to lay the gas pipeline for the state given that the OIL already has a crude carrying pipeline from Naharkatiya to Barauni so is in possession of 18 right of way (RoW) along the route.
The Chairman-cum-Managing (CMD) of the OIL, Utpol Bora in response informed that the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) is the right PSU to execute the gas pipeline project. “There is question of economic viability of the project and the GAIL may do it, if the Government of India is ready for viability gap funding. In the meantime, OIL too have done a feasibility study and submitted the report to the ministry. In case the GAIL or any other entity doesn’t take up the project, then the OIL is ready to form a company with Assam Gas Company Limited, Government of Assam to lay the gas pipeline,” the OIL CMD said.
He informed that as on date Assam required 10 million cubic meter per day as against production of 8 million cubic meter per day.
“Assam government expects the ONGC to start tapping its untapped as fields located in Golaghat district of the state to cater to hundreds of tea garden factories in the surrounding area,” the minister said while lauding the OIL for their efforts to increase the gas output.
He expressed that it would have been better for the economy of the state if the ONGC like the OIL, too would have work in the right earnest to increase production of gas and crude oil in the state.