PM Modi inaugurates Assam Bio-Ethanol Private Limited (ABEL), Numaligarh Rafineria, in Galaghat 14 September 2025. | Photo Credit: Neither
Two kinds of grass feed the largest ethanol plant based on bamboo in the world, which was inaugurated with Prime Minister Narendra Modim in the district of Golaghat from East Assam 14 September.
Numaligarh (NRL) officials said they were bank on a stable offer of two types of bamboo from at least three of the eight northeast states to optimally operate their new Bioethanol 5,000 Crore. These species are Balco (Bambusa balCooa) and Tulda (Bambusa Tulda).
Bioethanol plant is near the NRL oil refinery, whose capacity will triple from 3 million tonnes per year to 9 MMTPA. Oil India Limited (Oil) has a nearly 70% share in the refinery located 260 km east of Guwahati.
In addition to 48,900 metric tons of ethanol, the bioethanol plant has been designed to provide 11,000 tons of acetic acid per year, 19,000 tonnes of furfural from raw bamboo material on anum and 31,000 metric tons of liquid food oxide.
Also read | PM modi inaugurates the first Indian bamboo ethanol in Assam
Bamboo supply chain
“Arunacal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya have a bamboo cover of more than 10,000 km. The annual General Meeting on Tuesday (September 16, 2025).
Bhaskar Jyoti Phukan, CEO of NRL, explained why two out of about 90 bamboo species grown in the northeast are preferred for bioethanol plant.
“Balco and Tulda varieties have a high content of cellulose when they are three and a half years old, ideal for the production process of high bioethanol concentration to be used as fuel,” he said.
Studies have shown that Bamboo and Tulda have an alphacellulose content of 42.7-60.98%.
The bamboo supplier chain was prepared before setting up a bioethanol race, while the NRL authorities distributed seedlings to farmers only in Assam. “Every self -processing costs 27 GBP in the open market, but we provided farmers without costs because we had them grown for beginners through tissue culture,” said Mr. Phukan.
Farmers pay 65-70 GBP at the bamboo pole. They have the possibility to deliver directly or via bamboo snuff, which are strategically set around the race.
Previously, Dr. Rath said that the net fortune of the NRL reached an unprecedented maximum of 16 069 GBP in March 2025, an increase of 25% compared to March 2024. Revenue from operations increased from 23,731 Crore to 25,147 GBP Crore during this period, growing by 6%.
However, in the last fiscal year, tax profit dropped from 2,160 Crore in the financial year 2023-04 to 1 608 crore. “The profitability rate was primarily due to the narrowing of the range between product prices and oil on the global market, which led to a reduction in gross refine margin from $ 13.17 per barrel to $ 5.14 per barrel,” he said.
Published – 16 September 2025 9:18
