NRL is executing its mega project of laying a cross-country pipeline from Paradip Port in Odisha to Numaligarh along with the expansion of its refinery from 3.0 MMTPA to 9.0 MMTPA. The project is the single largest investment in Northeast India.

Feb 18, 2024

Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) is executing its mega project of laying a cross-country pipeline of 1635 km from Paradip Port in Odisha to Numaligarh along with the expansion of its refinery from 3.0 MMTPA to 9.0 MMTPA, as part of ‘Numaligarh Refinery Expansion Project (NREP)’. The prestigious NREP Project is the single largest investment in Northeast India as part of the Government of India’s ‘Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for North East India’. The pipeline passes through 5 States traversing numerous route crossings including all major rivers of East India, namely Ganga, Jia Bharali, Subansiri, and Brahmaputra through a technique called Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) with intersection. 

Subansiri River, which connects Lakhimpur in the North and Majuli in the South side, is one of the most challenging HDD sites due to its complex 3510-meter-long profile length for a 26-inch diameter pipe. The remote site made it more challenging due to the non-accessibility of the area which remains flooded most of the year leaving a working window of 4-5 months from November to March. The executing agency had to construct a temporary bridge over the Lohit River en route for the movement of the heavy equipment and project accessories. Two giant rigs of 500 MT were positioned on both sides of the river and are used for drilling, reaming, and pulling activities.

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The pulling of the 26-inch dia pipe started on 12th Feb 2024 and continued non-stop for around 60 hours till the entire 3.51 km long pipe string was pulled through, at midnight of 14th of February 2024 and marked the successful completion of one of the largest HDD globally as on date, for a 26-inch diameter pipe size. The EPCM consultant of the project is Engineers India Limited (EIL) and the executing agency is M/s Corrtech International Pvt Ltd (CIPL). With the completion of this HDD, NRL is now focussing on completing another two biggest HDDs in the forthcoming 2-3 months in Ganga and Brahmaputra Rivers, thereby, completing all major HDD crossings of its 1635 km long Paradip Numaligarh Crude Oil Pipeline (PNCPL). NRL plans to accomplish construction and commissioning of the PNCPL Project by Mid-2025.