GUWAHATI: An agreement to set up India’s first bio-refinery “Assam Bio-Refinery Pvt Ltd” as a joint venture (JV) between state-run Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) and two foreign partners has been signed, NRL announced on Tuesday.
The JV, which would produce the eco-friendly bio-ethanol and other chemicals from bamboo biomass, has been created by NRL with equity participation of Chempolis Oy of Finland and Fortum 3 B.V. of Netherlands, NRL Managing Director S.K. Barua told reporters here.
According to the official, bio-coal will be used for the production of steam and supplying clean power to the refinery.
The government’s Ethanol Blending Programme allows for blending of petrol by up to 10 percent with ethanol.
Its new bio-ethanol policy aims to spur investments in setting up projects with a total production capacity of 1 billion litres of ethanol every year.
