NEW DELHI, March 19 - The national oil companies have invested about Rs 24,716.5 crore in the northeastern region during the last two financial years, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said in a Lok Sabha reply today.
The Government of India has prepared the Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 document for Northeast India, outlining steps to leverage the hydrocarbon sector for development of the region. The vision document has been a focused and consultative exercise to develop a common and shared aspiration for benefiting people of the Northeast.
The national oil companies have started implementing actionable points incorporated in the Hydrocarbon Vision 2030. These include construction of gas collecting stations and laying of a pipeline in Tripura by the ONGC, the Barauni-Bongaigaon crude oil pipeline expansion project by the OIL, the Barauni-Guwahati natural gas pipeline by the GAIL and construction of 50 retail outlets in the Northeast by the BPCL. Moreover, the IOCL has initiated action for product pipelines and augmentation of LPG bottling plants in the region.
The other projects include the Guwahati-Silchar-Imphal product pipeline, Chittagong-Sabrum-Agartala LPG pipeline, LPG bottling plants at Silchar, Guwahati, Gopanari, Umium and Agartala. A memorandum of understanding has also been signed among ONGC, IOCL, OIL, GAIL and NRL for a 1,500-km natural gas pipeline grid in the Northeast.
