GUWAHATI, Jan 24 - The State government has told the Centre that it is keen on increasing its share in NRL and the BPCL�s stake in the Numaligarh-based refinery should be given to OIL.
Official sources said Industry Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary took up the issue at the �National Conclave on Emerging Opportunities in Natural Gas Sector�, organised by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, in New Delhi yesterday.
The Assam government�s shareholding in Numaligarh Refinery, he said, should be hiked to 26 per cent from present 12 per cent. �For this, the State government is willing to pay the required amount which is around Rs 1,400 crore,� the minister said.
The Central government has clarified that NRL will remain in the public sector and the proposed BPCL disinvestment programme will exclude the firm�s share in Numaligarh.
Currently, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited has 61.65 per cent stake in NRL, Assam government has 12.35 per cent and Oil India Limited 26 per cent.
Further, Patowary also called for providing gas pricing subsidy for imported gas supply and gas price subsidy to Assam Petrochemicals Limited (APL).
He requested the Centre to provide 40 per cent subsidy in the price of natural gas to be supplied through the North East Gas Grid project being implemented by Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited (IGGL) for price viability for the targeted customers as well as for attracting large scale industrial investments.
The present cost for supply of the imported Regasified Liquified Natural Gas (RLNG) through the under-construction North East Gas Grid will be around $ 18/MMBTU.
The 40 per cent subsidy will make the customer price around $ 11/MMBTU resulting in better competitive gas pricing compared to the rest of India, which shall be highly attractive for setting up gas-based industries in Assam and NE region.
He also underlined the need for providing gas price subsidy to APL in line with subsidies to Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL), Dibrugarh as both are gas-based petrochemical companies.
He also thanked the Centre for connecting NE region to National Gas Grid as this will increase usage in different sectors and help the growth of industry and commerce in Northeast which will also create job opportunities in the region.
The national conclave was presided over by Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmedra Pradhan. The objective of the conclave was to apprise and sensitize the stakeholders involved in gas value chain development, including State governments regarding initiative taken on expansion of natural gas market and its allied benefits.