NRL targets eastern and northeastern fuel markets with 9 MMTPA expansion by 2027

Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL), India's newest Maharatna company, expects to commission its flagship expansion project by March 2027, a move that would raise its refining capacity from 3 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) to 9 MMTPA and strengthen its position in the fuel markets of eastern and northeastern India.

Speaking to journalists after the company's 33rd annual general meeting on Friday, NRL Chairman Ranjit Rath said the project has reached 87.1% physical progress. Mr. Rath, who is also Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Oil India Limited (OIL), said the expanded capacity would allow NRL to serve eastern India, particularly West Bengal, along with the eight northeastern States, where fuel demand has been rising steadily.

He added that once the expansion stabilises, the company should be able to extend its operations to neighbouring countries. Stabilisation of a project of this scale takes time, he noted.

NRL, a subsidiary of OIL, is also known as the Assam Accord Refinery because its establishment was written into the 1985 agreement that ended a six-year agitation against undocumented foreigners in Assam.

The company already operates a product pipeline from Siliguri in West Bengal to supply diesel to Bangladesh. Its refinery in the Golaghat district of eastern Assam is India's only facility supplying high-altitude diesel to Bhutan. NRL also hopes to resume fuel supply to Myanmar once normalcy returns to the civil war-torn country.

On the financial front, Mr. Rath said NRL's net worth for 2025-26 rose 17.69% over 2024-25, while profit after tax grew by more than 90% to reach ₹3,057 crore. The company was elevated from Miniratna Category-1 to Navaratna status in December 2025.