Bandh against oil fields auction cripples life in upper Assam

Meanwhile, Sonowal said his government was committed to work for the interest of the people of Assam. “This government belongs to the people. This government is committed to work for the interest of the people of the state,” Sonowal said.

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State finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on the other hand said it was more important to extract petroleum in order to raise the revenue of the state. “We have to increase oil royalty, and for that we have to increase the crude oil output. It is not important which company does that,” Sarma told newspersons on Tuesday.

It was on Saturday that Dharmendra Pradhan had said that auction of the 12 small oil fields that were lying idle for years would trigger off investments worth Rs 4000 crores in Assam economy apart from adding to the country’s oil output in the next few years. “These 12 oil fields, which have a resource potential worth Rs 17,000 crore, would not only help roll about Rs 4,000 crore in Assam’s economy, but also create jobs and add to the state’s revenue from oil royalty,” Pradhan had said.