The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India owes Assam government a pending amount of crude oil royalty adding up to around Rs. 773.13 crore. The sum has been due from OIL and ONGC since April 2008.
Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas stated in Lok Sabha that the Gujarat and Assam government have respectively approached the Supreme Court regarding the payment of the pending crude oil royalty.
In 17th February 2017, the Supreme Court of India made a deal between the crude oil companies and the state governments in order to pay Assam and Gujarat their remaining pending amounts of crude oil royalty.
Interestingly, the report produced by Dharmendra Pradhan did not tell how much exactly Assam is yet to receive from the ministry or the time frame to clear the pending amount.
Official information demonstrates that the oil-producing organizations have effectively paid Rs 4,834.42 crore in four portions. In August 2016, OIL and ONGC paid the principal portion of Rs 1449.88 crore. The resulting portions of Rs 945.90 crore; Rs 670 crore; Rs 1,311.78 crore; and Rs 456.86 crore were discharged by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
