Guwahati, Nov. 3 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought responses from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Assam government on a plea filed by Oil India Limited (OIL) challenging the rejection of its proposal for hydrocarbon exploration beneath Assam's Dibru-Saikhowa National Park using Extended Reach Drilling (ERD) technology.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana took note of submissions by senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for Oil India, that the matter was urgent as the public sector undertaking (PSU) was unable to undertake exploration in the area.

Dwivedi told the court that the area surrounding Dibru-Saikhowa National Park is estimated to contain three per cent...