GUWAHATI: The Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) in Assam is focussing on two bamboo varieties that are rich in cellulose content to operate the country’s first bamboo-based bioethanol plant.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated the Rs 5,000 crore plant in Assam’s Golaghat district. “We are focussing on the endemic bamboo species, mainly ‘Balco’ (Bambusa balcooa) and ‘Tulda’ (Bambusa tulda). We are looking at higher cellulose content. We have found that among the local bamboo species, Balco and Tulda have maximum cellulose content when they are around three-and-a-half years old,” NRL Managing Director Bhaskar Jyoti Phukan told the media after the PSU’s 32nd annual general meeting (AGM) in Guwahati.
"About 60 lakh saplings have already been distributed among a large number of farmers. The NRL will buy the bamboo from them in high volumes, at Rs 65-70 per pole. We are confident that the farmers will have a good economy out of that. The open market price of a bamboo sapling is Rs 27. We have given those for free to the farmers. They can directly supply the bamboos to our plant or to local-level entrepreneurs who will be responsible for chipping,” Phukan said.
The NRL, in collaboration with the Assam government, is generating a lot of saplings through tissue culture.
NRL Chairman Ranjit Rath said bamboos or bamboo chips would be sourced largely from farmers living within a 250-300 sq km radius of NRL and partly from Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.“We have a digital payment solution to protect the interests of the farmers and local-level employment. So, a lot of activities have already been done in this regard. The envisaged contribution back to the local economy will be around Rs 200 crore,” Rath, also the Chairman & Managing Director of Oil India Limited, said.
He added that there are certain bamboo species that grow one metre per day.
Meanwhile, in his address at the AGM, Rath highlighted the NRL’s robust performance during the 2024–25 financial year.“The NRL’s net worth reached the unprecedented height of Rs 16,260 crore as on 31st March 2025 – a 25% increase over the previous year. Revenue from operations grew to Rs 25,147 crore from Rs 23,731 crore, reflecting healthy growth of 6% despite margin pressures,” the NRL said in a statement.