PM Narendra Modi set to inaugurate India’s first bamboo-based ethanol plant at Numaligarh

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, in a press conference held today at Lok Sewa Bhawan, announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Assam on 8th September.

During his visit, the Prime Minister will inaugurate the bio-refinery at Numaligarh in Golaghat district which was developed with an investment of around ₹4,000 crore. The bio-refinery project in Numaligarh has been implemented by a joint venture company titled Assam Bio Ethanol Private Limited (ABEPL) in which NRL is the major shareholder.

This bamboo-based bio-refinery is India’s 2nd second-generation (2G) ethanol plant .The 2G refinery in Numaligarh has a production capacity of 185 kilolitres per day and will manufacture ethanol using bamboo as its primary biomass source. Unlike first-generation ethanol, which is derived from food-based sources such as cereals and sugarcane, second-generation ethanol uses agricultural waste and non-food biomass: in this case, bamboo, making it a more sustainable and non-competing alternative.

The Numaligarh plant is expected to significantly benefit the local economy by creating employment opportunities for farmers involved in bamboo cultivation and supply. ​​The bio-refinery is expected to benefit 30,000 rural households in its entire value chain and create market linkage for five lakh tonnes of green bamboo every year, generating business opportunities for around Rs 200 crore. This project is marked as a symbol of India’s commitment to clean energy, rural empowerment, and innovation-driven industrialisation in the Northeast.