Oil India Limited (OIL) in association with Engineers India Limited (EIL) on Thursday informed the decision to bid for acquiring 61.65 per cent stake of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) in Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL).

An official release from the organisation read that the bidding process will be done formally and the exact percentage of the stake of both OIL and EIL will depend on the extent of Right of First Offer (ROFO) to be exercised by Government of Assam which already holds 12.35% stakes in NRL.

EIL will hold a minority share in the consortium while OIL will be the leader, the state-owned engineering consultancy firm said in a statement. "This would enable EIL to diversify its business into downstream oil & gas operations," it added.

Notably, NRL is the largest customer of OIL's crude produced from its North Eastern fields. The acquisition is expected to improve the synergy in OIL's portfolio.

Meanwhile, Oil India Limited (OIL), a Navratna PSU, is a fully integrated E&P company in the upstream sector and is the second largest national oil and gas company in India as measured by total proved plus probable oil and natural gas reserves and production.