Assam’s tea gardens make room for bamboo to fuel bioethanol plant, Pg10

Key Highlights:

• Assam's tea gardens are now permitted to use up to 5% of their land for non-tea purposes, following a 2022 amendment to the Assam Fixation of Ceiling on Land Holding Act of 1956.
• Some tea gardens are cultivating bamboo to supply the world's first commercial-scale 2G bioethanol plant in Numaligarh, dedicated in September 2025.
• The ₹4,930-crore plant, established by Assam Bio Ethanol Private Limited (ABEPL), requires five lakh metric tonnes of green bamboo annually to produce 49,000 metric tonnes of ethanol.
• ABEPL has registered 4,200 bamboo farmers across 26 districts of Northeast India but needs more to meet the plant's annual bamboo requirement.

Detailed Insights:

• The 2G bioethanol plant ensures food security, is more sustainable, and has a lower carbon footprint compared to 1G ethanol produced from food crops.
• ABEPL's model involves farmers offloading bamboo at decentralized chipping units within 30-40 km of their farms, ensuring instant payment.
• The long-term plan includes distributing 60 lakh bamboo saplings free of cost to farmers to ensure a sustainable supply chain.
• Tea gardens are exploring bamboo cultivation to overcome challenges like climate change, ageing tea bushes, high production costs, poor infrastructure, and labor shortage.
• The Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL), a Navaratna PSU, is a key partner in the ABEPL joint venture, along with Finland-based Chempolis Oy and Fortum.

IMAGE 2026-02-15 08:48:28.jpg

Key Concepts Involved:

• 2G Bioethanol: Ethanol derived from non-food farm waste or residue, offering a sustainable alternative to food-based ethanol production.
• Navaratna PSU: A Public Sector Undertaking that has been granted enhanced autonomy and financial delegation by the Indian government.
• Feedstock: Raw material used to supply or fuel a machine or industrial process.