Assam : PM Narendra Modi to inaugurate India’s first domestic ethanol project at NRL on Sept 8
India’s first bamboo-based ethanol plant at Numaligarh Refinery, built at ₹4,000 crore, will be inaugurated by PM Modi on September 8. The project, processing 3 lakh tonnes of bamboo annually, will benefit 30,000 rural households. Alongside, NRL is expanding capacity from 3 to 9 MMTPA with a ₹33,901 crore investment, boosting energy output and regional development.
BOKAKHAT: Established under the historic Assam Accord, the Numaligarh Refinery (NRL) is poised to bring a new wave of optimism through a landmark achievement. The country’s first ethanol project within India is almost complete at the Numaligarh Refinery. Constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 4,000 crore, this ethanol project will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 8 during his visit to Numaligarh.
This bamboo-based bio-ethanol project, jointly promoted by Numaligarh Refinery Limited and Fortum (Samplex Oil and Associates), is the first of its kind in the country. Implemented by a joint venture company, this bio-refinery project is primarily led by NRL. A successful trial run of the bio-refinery was conducted in December 2024, proving the viability of ethanol production from bamboo. The construction of the project is now nearing completion.
This project is designed to annually process 300,000 metric tons of bamboo and produce 49,000 metric tons of ethanol along with other chemicals. Additionally, a 20 MW captive power generation unit will be established to support the plant’s energy needs.
The raw material supply chain for the project has been categorized into four main components: bamboo farmers, harvesters, local entrepreneurs (as intermediate transporters and pre-processing unit operators), and bamboo chip transporters. Bamboo will be collected from farmers by skilled harvesters and sent to designated pre-processing units (managed by local entrepreneurs), which will also serve as regional warehouses. All stakeholders, including the farmers, will be paid directly through electronic bank transfers. It is estimated that this bio-refinery project will benefit around 30,000 rural households across the region.
Expansion of Numaligarh Refinery
The Numaligarh Refinery is also undergoing a massive capacity expansion from 3 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MMTPA) to 9 MMTPA, more than 80% of which has already been completed. This expansion is expected to be fully operational by the end of the current year. Upon completion, the refinery will not only meet the energy demands of Northeast India but also export petroleum products to neighbouring countries. Key features of the expansion project include increased refining capacity with production capacity to be increased from the current 3 MMTPA to 9 MMTPA. The total estimated cost of the project is Rs 33,901 crore. A new 6 MMTPA unit is also being set up to process imported crude oil. The upgraded configuration will facilitate the production of propylene, a petrochemical feedstock that will pave the way for setting up a polypropylene unit. This will help reduce India’s dependence on petrochemical imports. A 1,640 km-long crude oil pipeline from Paradip (Odisha) to Numaligarh is under construction, which will be one of India’s longest crude pipelines, passing through Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, and Assam, ensuring energy supply to the Northeast. It will also support future expansion of other refineries in Assam.
Out of 16 required Over-Dimension and Over-Weight Consignments (ODC/OWC), 14 have already been dispatched to Numaligarh. During the pipeline construction, a 26-inch pipeline crossing under the Ganga river was laid using Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD), a significant engineering feat spanning 4 km, the longest of its kind in India.
The expanded output will primarily cater to domestic markets in East India including Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Eastern Uttar Pradesh. Surplus products will be exported to Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar, using the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline (IBFPL).
This expansion project will not only boost India’s energy production capacity but also contribute significantly to the socio-economic development of Assam and Northeast India by promoting industrial growth and creating employment opportunities. Currently, around 8,000 workers are engaged in round-the-clock operations at the refinery.
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Source : Sentinel
