Mangaldai, Sep 14 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi today dedicated to the nation, India's first bio ethanol plant at the Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) in Assam's Golaghat district, calling it a step towards ensuring energy security in the country.
Established at an estimated cost of Rs. 4,200 crore, the bioethanol plant at Numaligarh aims to promote clean energy and reducing dependence on fossil fuels. The project is expected to produce 48,900 MT of ethanol, 11,000 TPA of acetic acid, 19,000 TPA of furfural from raw bamboo feed stocks, and 31,000 MT of food-grade liquid CO2 based on technology supplied by Finnish company, Fortum and Chempolis OY.
A joint venture of NRL and Fortum and Chempolis Oy, the Assam Bio Ethanol Private Limited is the first bio refinery to produce fuel grade ethanol from bamboo biomass.
Before dedicating the bi ethanol plant to the nation, the Prime Minister also laid the foundation of a Polypropylene (PP) plant over 600 acres of land at NRL, adding significant value to Assam's petrochemical sector.
The PP plant, with a capacity of 360 KTPA, will be set up with an investment of Rs. 7,200 crore. It will also generate employment opportunities and lead to overall socio economic development of the region.
"Assam is a land that supports India's energy efficiency. The petroleum products from Assam boost the pace of development in India. The BJP government is trying to take this capacity of Assam to a new level. Before coming here, I laid the foundation stone of the polypropylene plant. Polypropylene, which will be made from bamboo, will boost industry in Assam and strengthen development," PM Modi said, adding that these initiative will boost employment opportunity and benefit the farmers.
"India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world now. With our dream of Vikshit Bharat, our energy requirement has also been increasing. We have been dependent on other countries for energy and the country had to spend crores of rupees on import. We have to change this and our government is trying to achieve self sufficiency in energy. While on the one hand we are focusing on hydrocarbon exploration, we are also laying stress on green energy like solar etc ," he said.
The Prime Minister said that the government is going to start a national deep water exploration mission to look for hydrocarbons under the sea so that these resources can be utilised for the nation. He said that India has emerged as one of the top five countries in the world in harnessing solar power.
"One such alternative energy resource is ethanol. The bioethanol plant, which we started here will also help the local farmers and the tribal people. Government will help them grow bamboo and will procure the products to ensure a win-win situation," he said.
The Prime Minister blamed the erstwhile Congress governments in Assam for the state's backwardness and said that the people should remember that the Congress government had even put people behind jails for cutting bamboo.
"Our government has removed the ban on bamboo cutting. You all can see how this decision to remove the ban from bamboo cutting is helping the locals in this part of the country," he said. UNI ANP SSP