Guwahati, Dec 1: Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) has launched a major skill development push in Assam, training more than 60 youth for employment in India’s rapidly expanding energy and natural gas distribution sector. The initiative, officials say, aims to plug a critical skills gap while creating job-ready professionals from marginalised and under-resourced communities.
According to an NRL official, the programme is a six-month residential training course, delivered in two batches of three months each. The first batch ran from September 1 to November 30, 2025, while the second batch begins today and will continue until February 28, 2026.
“This is a transformative initiative designed to equip Assam’s youth with specialised competencies aligned with the country’s fast-growing energy sector,” the official said. “The project addresses a major skills shortage in the piped natural gas ecosystem and offers a meaningful pathway out of unemployment.”
The course combines two months of intensive classroom learning with hands-on technical training, preparing trainees for roles essential to the natural gas pipeline network — an infrastructure that now spans 34,000 km and serves over 15.3 million households nationwide as of March 2025. With natural gas consumption projected to rise from 6% to 15% of India’s energy mix by 2030, the demand for trained technicians is expected to surge.
Despite this expansion, fewer than 1% of plumbers in India are formally trained to work with gas distribution systems, even as the sector requires more than 1.2 million skilled workers. NRL’s skill programme is designed to address this gap.
Funded through NRL’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, the project leverages the infrastructure of ITI Majuli, which hosts the residential training and internship components. The programme is implemented in partnership with MMGLD, which oversees coordination, logistics, documentation and outreach. The organisation envisions scaling the pilot into a wider model benefiting more districts across Assam.
Beyond job placements, the initiative aims to strengthen safe and clean energy access, build local economic resilience, and promote entrepreneurship among trained youth. Trainers say graduates often become community leaders advocating safer energy practices and contributing to grassroots development.
