NRL’s Bio-Refinery Plant to use 5 lakh MT bamboo as raw material and produce 49,000 MT ethanol annually:

Guwahati, May 13: Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) Managing Director SK Baruah on Wednesday said that the NRL’s Bio-Refinery Plant which is being executed with a project cost of Rs 1750 crore will use 5 lakh MT bamboo per annum as raw material and to produce 49000 MT ethanol per annum as the main product.

He further said that, other major bioproducts from the plant will include acetic acid and furfural besides the production of biodegradable plastic out of furfural in collaboration with IIT Guwahati.

During a review meeting of the Numaligarh Refinery Expansion Project (NREP) and Bio-Refinery Plant at the NRL Head Quarter in Numaligarh in the presence of Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, the NRL MD said that the Bio-Refinery Plant is scheduled to be commissioned by December 2021.

NRL MD SK Baruah informed the Assam Chief Minister that, the expansion project which involves the capacity enhancement of the refinery from 3 MMTPA to 9 MMTPA with the project cost of Rs 22,594 crore is being carried out with completion time of 48 months.

“Moreover, consultancy job has already been awarded and 200 acres land has been taken on lease at Paradeep Port for laying crude pipeline connecting Numaligarh,” the NRL MD said.

For the successful implementation of the project, the NRL MD made several requests to the Assam Chief Minister and sought his help on issues related to Forest, PWD, and security-related matters.

The Chief Minister assured us to look into all the requests positively, so that NRL continues to be a leading force in the industrial landscape of the state.

Sonowal urged the management of Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) to play a proactive role in promoting agro-based economy in the state and take steps for skill development of the youth of the neighboring areas.

The Assam Chief Minister also visited the construction sites of both the projects and took stock physical progress of the projects.

“In the industrial landscape of Assam, NRLis playing an important role and has generated much hope for the state’s economy especially given its expansion project and the biofuel plant. However, it is time that NRL should come out of its conventional area of expertise and focus on the promotion of agro-economic fundamentals in the state,” Sonowal said.

He also said that the bamboo-based ethanol plant is a big opportunity for NRL to venture into the field of agro-economy by engaging the maximum number of local people in bamboo production which is now an agricultural product.

He further observed that the new bamboo and cane policy of the state government would significantly help the NRL and local farmers in this regard.

“The NRL with its wide resources should also give a thought to strengthen the local economy including setting up of cold storages and providing succor to the horticulturists who suffered a huge loss during the Coronavirus induced lockdown. Establishing cold storages would not only help the farmers but also go a long way in boosting the rural economy,” Sonowal said.

He further said that concentrating on developing skilled men power who could also be a strong force to catapult industrial growth in the state should also constitute a core area of importance of the NRL and urged the management to take up skill development initiatives of the youth of neighboring areas.

Appreciating the measures taken by NRL to deal with COVID-19, the Asam Chief Minister said that guided by the Prime Minister’s vision, the government of Assam is working on a mission mode to contain and control Coronavirus pandemic and at the same time strengthening the state’s economy.

He further urged the NRL authority to carry out its production activities maintaining the norm of social distancing and directives of the health department.

Sonowal asked them to continue with the sanitization drive and keep all logistics ready at its hospital to deal with any emergency.

Besides, the Assam Chief Minister lauded the NRL authority for regularly making monthly payments to its workers to the tune of Rs. 1.20 crore during the ongoing lockdown period and also setting up a dormitory for migrant workers.