Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) on Tuesday handed Rs 114.76 crores to the Assam government as a part of the first interim dividend for the current financial year 2022-23 for its stake in the state owned-refinery.

The CMD of Oil India and the Chairman of NRL Ranjit Rath handed over the dividend cheque to Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma in the presence of Union minister of state for petroleum and natural gas, Rameswar Teli.

The state government in May 2021 increased its stake in the refinery from 12.35 per cent to 26 per cent. The additional stake costs the state’s exchequer Rs 2,187, the highest ever investment by the state government in any PSUs.

Taking to Twitter, CM Sarma wrote, “Happy to receive a cheque of Rs114.76 cr from OilIndiaLimited CMD and NRL Chairman Shri Ranjit Rath in the presence of Hon Union MoS Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Rameswar Teli, as 1st Interim Dividend for 2022-23 to Govt of Assam for its 26 per cent stake in NRL.”

“Since its inception, NRL has been playing a prominent role in the growth and development of Assam. On behalf of the people of our state, I extend my best wishes to NRL for scaling newer heights of glory and achievements in the years to come,” he added in a further tweet.

NRL is a public sector oil company operating a 3 Million Metric Tonnes per Annum (MMTPA) Refinery in Assam’s Golaghat district. It is under the administrative control of the Union ministry of petroleum.

It is the largest among the four refineries that operate in Assam and contributes to the overall economic development of the state.