Digboi is a small quaint town located in the Tinsukia district of Upper Assam. This tinseltown has a rich history and was one of the administrative headquarters of the British regime in India. The British along with the esrtwhile AR&T company had discovered coal in the reserves of the Makum Coalfields and also established many tea garden factories across the vicinity of this town in the late 19th century. It was during one of their explorations around Digboi that they accidentally discovered oil here in around 1882. This was a grand discovery and the British Raj started exploration of Oil in the area and established the Assam Oi Company in 1899 to look after the oil business in this area. The Digboi Oil well is the oldest operational oil well in the World. In order to get the oil distilled, the Digboi Oil Refinery as set up in the year 1901. Digboi is where oil was first discovered in India and the Digboi Oil Refinery is the oldest operational oil well in Asia. Digboi now is the headquarters of the Assam Oil Division of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
How to reach Digboi from Kaziranga National Park –
By Road – Digboi is located at a distance of around 300 kilometers from Kaziranga National Park. It takes around 7 hours by road to reach Digboi from Kaziranga. Private Bus operators ply from Guwahati to Digboi and can be boarded from Kaziranga National Park. We operate our Taxi Service to Digboi from Kaziranga National Park. Our well maintained fleet makes your journey from Kaziranga National Park to Digboi a comfortable one.
By Air – Digboi is well connected to the Dibrugarh Airport by road. You can choose to fly to Dibrugarh from the Guwahati Airport. We operate taxi service from Dibrugarh Airport to Digboi.
By Train – Digboi Oil town has a railway Station and the Intercity Express arrives and departs daily from the Digboi Railway Station from Guwahati.
Places of Interest in Digboi –
1| The Digboi World War II Cemetery
Built and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Mission, the Digboi War Cemetery was started for burials from the hospital and at the end of the war contained 70 burials. Later, the Army Graves Service brought in further graves from burial grounds in Panitola, Jorhat, Margherita, Tinsukia, Ledo, and as well as from the US Military Cemetery at Shingvuoiyang in Burma where permanent maintenance could not be assured. The Digboi World War II Cemetery now contains 200 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War from the soldiers of the Royal British Army and Indian Soldiers serving for the British Raj.
2| The Centenary Oil Museum at Digboi
The Legendary history of the Digboi Oil Story is well preserved at the Digboi Centenary Oil Museum which is built on the fringes of Digboi Well No.1 from which oil is still gently seeping. Inaugurated in January 2002, this museum is a treasure house of memorabilia of the past, tools and equipment of the yesteryear s and elegant wall panels depicting the history of Oil refining in India. While an air raid shelter of the World War II greets visitors at the entrance of the museum, the steel rig of Digboi Well No. 1 stands as a silent sentinel of excellence adjacent to the museum building.
3| Heritage Bungalows of the British Era
The Heritage bungalows in Digboi, more than a century old, will take you back in time to the colonial period of the British Raj in India. Digboi has a system of well planned town infrastructure similar to be seen across Europe. These unique ‘Chang Bungalows’ built by the British, standing one in each hillock, surrounded by well-maintained lawns and small kitchen gardens is sure to give you a feel of the legacy British Regime Era.
4| Digboi Golf Course
Considered to be among the finest golf courses of Assam and India the Digboi golf course is set up on a scenic backdrop overlooking the Dehing Patkai mountain ranges. This 18 hole golf course has over the years hosted many golf national golf tournaments. Prestigious guests to the Digboi Golf Course include the likes of Rakesh Sharma – the first and only Indian to go to space.
5| The Digboi Oil Refinery
Digboi Oil refinery is the Oldest Oil Refinery in Asia set up in the year 1901. Digboi was where Oil was first discovered in India and hence it is termed as the Oil City of India. Today, though the crude production is not high, Digboi has the distinction of being India’s oldest continuously producing oilfield. Digboi refinery, now a division of Indian Oil Corporation, had a capacity of about 0.65 MMTPA as of 2003.
6| Oldest Operational Oil Well at Digboi
The Discovery Well No. 1 was where first Oil was found in 1889 and the commercial production of Oil at Digboi started in 1890. It is in the area of this well that the Oil Museum at Digboi has been constructed. The Oil well was abandoned in 1932 but still traces of oil can be seen seeping out from the ground here.
7| Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary
Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia Districts of Assam and covers an area of 111.19 sq km rainforest. It is part of the Assam valley tropical wet evergreen forest and consists of three parts: Jeypore, upper Dihing River and Dirok rainforest. It was declared a sanctuary on 13 June 2004. This sanctuary is also a part of Dehing-Patkai Elephant Reserve. A part of the forest was declared as a wildlife sanctuary by the Government of Assam, while another part falls under the Dibru-Deomali Elephant Reserve. The forest further spreads over in the Tirap and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh. The Dehing Patkai forms the largest stretch of tropical lowland rainforests in India. The forest is often referred as “The Amazon of the east” owing to its large area and thick forests.
Sample Itinerary for Kaziranga National Park – Digboi
Day 1 – Kaziranga National Park – Dibru Saikhowa National Park
After Breakfast depart from Kaziranga National Park to the Dibru Saikhowa National Park in Tinsukia. Arrive at the Banashree Eco Resort at Dibru Saikhowa National Park.
Night Stay – Banashree Eco Resort at Dibru Saikhowa
Meals Included – Breakfast
Day 2 – Dibru Saikhowa National Park
Today we spend the day at Dibru Saikhowa National Park. Visit the age old banyan tree inside the premises of the National Park. Take a river cruise to dolphin point to sight the endangered river dolphins here. Evening visit the Maguri Beel to sight the various species of birds here and sight the traditional fishing techniques here.
Night Stay – Banashree Eco Resort at Dibru Saikhowa
Meals Included – Breakfast
Day 3 – Dibru Saikhowa National Park – Digboi
After Breakfast, depart to the Oil town of Digboi. Arrive at Digboi. At Digboi, visit the Digboi World War II Cemetery. Later visit the Digboi Oil Museum and the Digboi Golf Course. Arrive at Namdang Guest House for night halt.
Night Stay – Namdang Guest House Digboi
Meals Included – Breakfast
Day 4 – Digboi – Margherita
After Breakfast, depart to the Tipong Colliery. At Tipong, sight the Oldest Operational Oil Locomotives in the World of the likes of David and 796. Later depart to Mounglang Khamti Buddhist Monastery and International Meditation center of Bhante Baba’s fame. Later in the day visit the India’s only Coal Museum at Margherita.
Night Stay – Namdang Guest House Digboi
Meals Included – Breakfast
Day 5 – Digboi – Dibrugarh Airport
After Breakfast, depart to the Dibrugarh Airport. We drop you off at the Dibrugarh Airport for your onward destination. Tour Ends. Bid Adieu!
Night Stay – NA
Meals Included – Breakfast
To plan your Visit to Digboi Oil Town from Kaziranga National Park please fill the form
Exploring Digboi with our guest from United Kingdom ~
Ms. Walker was exploring North East India and she was visiting the parts of Upper Assam at Dibru Saikhowa National Park, Tinsukia, Digboi, Margherita, Ledo and Lekhapani with us. We had finished exploring Dibru Saikhowa National Park and Tinsukia on the first half of our tour and Ms. Walker was staying at the Singpho Eco Lodge in Margherita for the rest of the tour. On the third day of our tour we had set out to explore Digboi Oil town from Margherita. Digboi is home to Asia’s Oldest Oil Refinery and is also home to the Oldest Operational Oil well in the World.
Oil was discovered here in Digboi in the late 1800s by the AR&T company during the British regime. In 1901, the first Oil refinery in Asia was set up here in Digboi to cater to the petroleum needs of the region and the country as well. We reached Digboi at around 10 AM and we headed at first to explore the Digboi World War II cemetery. During the Burma Campaign of the World War II, many soldiers of the Allied Forces fought the battle across North East India in Assam, Nagaland and Manipur. Many brave soldiers laid down their lives fighting during this wat and their burials have been respectfully preserved across various parts of Assam, Nagaland and Manipur by the Commonwealth War Graves mission. We arrived at the Digboi War Cemetery and took our time exploring the neatly aligned graves of this cemetery. There were flowers around the Digboi War Cemetery and neatly trimmed grass covering the area of the Cemetery as well. We paid our respects to the martyred soldiers and left the Digboi War Cemetery in sometime.
Next up we explored the Digboi market area and took a drive along the Digboi Oil Refinery. We reached the Digboi Oil Museum at around 11.30 AM. The centenary oil museum at Digboi was built to mark the 100 years of Digboi Oil Refinery. It illustrates the history of the Indian Oil industry. At first we explored the area outside the main museum building where we saw various old machinery used during oil drilling and refining. Also there is a model of an old petrol filling station that was present in Digboi. Two vintage cars are also present here and so is the Oldest operational oil well in the World. Next up we went inside the museum building after depositing our mobile phones at the entrance. We explored the Digboi museum where various techniques of oil refining was put up on display along with illustrations and models of the history of oil in India. Inside the digboi museum there is also a replica model of the Digboi Oil refinery as well. Various VIP dignitaries who had visited the digboi refinery and their pictures have been well framed and put up on display on the wall here. We finished exploring the museum and headed to Margherita. On the way we made a halt at the Buddhist Monastery and Temple at Golai as well. We arrived back at the Singpho Eco Lodge by late afternoon and had our lunch of traditional Singpho cuisine. We explored around the area of the lodge to end of day.
