Guwahati: The Assam government on Tuesday signed agreements with Oil India Limited (OIL) for petroleum, mining lease (PML) in eight blocks in the State.

The eight PML blocks are Dibrugarh, Dibrugarh (Extension), Hugrijan (Extension), Borhapjan, Borhat, Moran, Doomdooma (Extension), and Mechaki (Extension).

With this, the Assam government is expected to receive more than Rs 2,000 crore from OIL annually. Currently, the State government gets around Rs 1,500 crore as royalty and other levies from the oil exploration company.

Geology and Mining Director Ananda Kumar Das signed the agreement on behalf of the Assam government while OIL was represented by Agadh Medhi, Executive Director (Frontier Basin).

"Drilling and production activities are already going on in these areas. But we want to extend the operations to adjacent areas. We feel that in our Mission 4 Plus, which aims to enhance the production from the current 3 million metric tonnes to 4 million metric tonnes by 2024-25, a sizeable production will come from these blocks," an OIL official said.
During the programme, State Mines and Minerals Minister Jogen Mohan assured OIL that the Assam government would provide all possible support in its quest of hydrocarbon. He also requested OIL to enhance the employment of local people.