A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed today in Guwahati between Assam-based Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) and Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) for the transportation of petroleum and petrochemical products to Bangladesh and other South East Asian nations. The MoU signing was held in the presence of Union Minister for Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Ayush Sarbananda Sonowal and Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Rameshwar Teli along with two Ministers of the State Government.  

Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said that a nation cannot develop without the development of its transportation system. A robust transportation system can only transform a society, he added.

Mr. Sonowal said that due to the Act East Policy initiated by Prime Minister  Narendra Modi, the entire North Eastern (NE) States are turning into a hotspot of development. he remarked the NE States are now exporting its products to South East Asian countries. The Indo-Bangla Protocol Rout and NW -2 an important waterways for the transformation of the NE States as export and import can be easily done, added the Minister.

The MoU will pave the way for making rivers navigable throughout the year by IWAI and assist in bringing large cargoes and capital equipment including single-piece pre-fabricated process plants for the refinery expansion projects. Also, it will open up trade and commerce as outward freight movement in large consignments will be possible using NW 2 (Brahmaputra River).

As part of the Centre’s Hydrocarbon Vision 2030, the NRL has embarked on a major refinery expansion project to treble its existing refining capacity from 3MMTPA to 9MMTPA. The NRL has set the target to transport 10,000 MT of petroleum and petrochemical products per month fulfilling the Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for the North Eastern States.