SC seeks Centre, Assam reply on Oil India drilling near national park

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 3 November, sought responses from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Assam government on Oil India's plea challenging the rejection of its Extended Reach Drilling proposal beneath Dibru-Saikhowa National Park in Assam. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana heard senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, who argued the project near Baghjan PML in Tinsukia district holds an estimated three per cent of India's hydrocarbon reserves. The company says the technique drilling below 4,000 metres from outside the park is not conventional mining and will not harm flora and fauna.

Oil India has challenged the Forest Advisory Committee's decision and the environment ministry's refusal to divert 0.069 hectares of forest land. The company argues authorities wrongly applied the Supreme Court's April 2023 judgment banning mining within national parks. The bench indicated it may permit exploration based on research reports from the authorities, including the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The matter will next be heard after 17 November.

Update, 3 November 2026: Oil India has argued that its project would strengthen India’s energy security amid volatile global crude prices and the West Asia crisis, according to cnbctv18.com. Oil India says India imports 80 to 85% of its crude requirements. The court will hear the matter further after the Centre submits its response. The Economic Times and other outlets confirm the court’s conditional openness to permitting exploration based on R&D reports.