A CORRESPONDENT
BOKAKHAT: Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL), Assam’s fourth oil refinery, was established at Panka Grant in Golaghat district as a result of the historic Assam Accord signed on the midnight of August 14, 1985 in the presence of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, along with the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (AAGSP), marking the conclusion of the six-year-long Assam Movement against illegal immigrants.
The bamboo-based bio-ethanol project in Numaligarh has been set up as a joint venture between Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) and Chempolis Oy (a Finnish technology company). This bio-refinery project for the production of 2G ethanol from bamboo biomass in Numaligarh is being implemented by a joint venture company called ‘Assam Bio Ethanol Private Limited (ABEPL),’ in which NRL is the major shareholder.
A successful trial run of the bio-refinery was conducted in December 2024, during which the process of producing ethanol from bamboo was successfully established. The construction of this project is nearly complete and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate it on September 8.
This bio-ethanol project, in addition to chemical products, has the capacity to produce 49,000 metric tons of ethanol annually, for which 300,000 metric tons of bamboo will be sourced every year. To support operations, a 20-megawatt internal power generation unit will also be installed.
The bio-refinery is primarily designed to produce 49 KTPA (kilo tons per annum) of ethanol. Besides ethanol, other by-products that will be produced include furfural, acetic acid, carbon dioxide, and bio-coal.
To source raw materials for the refinery, the supply chain will cover forest and non-forest areas in Assam and its three neighbouring states, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Nagaland, within a 300-km radius of the plant. ABEPL has categorized the supply chain into four key segments of bamboo farmers, harvesters-cum-interim transporters, local-level entrepreneurs (LLEs), and bamboo chip transporters.
Skilled harvesters will collect bamboo from the farmers and deliver it to designated pre-processing units (classified as local entrepreneurs), which will also serve as regional depots. All stakeholders, including bamboo farmers, will be paid through direct electronic bank transfer.
The entire supply chain of this bio-refinery is expected to benefit 30,000 rural households and create market linkage for 5 lakh (500,000) tons of green bamboo every year, generating business opportunities worth over Rs 200 crore.
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