India’s newest Maharatna refiner eyes East, Northeast domination after expansion
Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) is expanding its capacity to 9 MMTPA by 2027 to dominate fuel markets in Eastern and Northeastern India. The company, a Maharatna refiner, also plans to resume exports to neighboring countries like Myanmar.
Why it matters
The expansion is a strategic move for India's energy security and economic influence in the Northeast and neighboring South Asian markets.
Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL), India’s newest Maharatna company, hopes to dominate the fuel market in Eastern and Northeastern India after commissioning its expansion project by March 2027.
A subsidiary of Oil India Limited (OIL), the NRL is also called the Assam Accord Refinery because its establishment was incorporated as a promise in the 1985 agreement that ended a violent six-year agitation to eject undocumented foreigners from the State.
“Our flagship expansion project, which will increase the NRL’s capacity from the current 3 MMTPA (million metric tonnes per annum) to 9 MMTPA, has achieved 87.1% physical progress and is expected to be commissioned by March 2027,” NRL Chairman Ranjit Rath, who is also the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of OIL, told journalists after the company’s 33rd annual general meeting on Friday (September 11, 2026).
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