GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal urged the management of Assam based Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) to play a proactive role in promoting agro based economy in the state and take steps for skill development of youth of the neighbouring areas.

The Chief Minister made this call during a review of the Numaligarh Refinery Expansion Project (NREP) and Bio Refinery Plant at the NRL Head Quarter in Numaligarh. Chief Minister Sonowal also visited the construction sites of both the projects and took stock physical progress of the projects.

Sonowal said that in the industrial landscape of Assam, NRL is playing an important role and has generated much hope for the states economy especially in view of its expansion project and the bio fuel plant. However, it is time that NRL should come out of its conventional area of expertise and focus on promotion of agro economic fundamentals in the state, he said adding that the bamboo based ethanol plant is a big opportunity for NRL to venture into the field of agro economy by engaging 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 Chief Minister said that the NRL with its wide resources should also give a thought to strengthen the local economy including setting up of cold storages and providing succour to the horticulturists who suffered huge loss during the coronavirus induced lockdown.

He said that establishing cold storages would not only help the farmers but also go a long way in boosting rural economy. Sonowal further said that concentrating on developing skilled men power that 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 neighbouring areas.

NRL MD S. K. Baruah informed the Chief Minister that the expansion project which involves capacity enhancement of the refinery from 3 MMTPA to 9 MMTPA with 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 pipe line connecting Numaligarh.

The NRL MD further informed that the 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 produce 49000 MT ethanol per annum as main product. Other major bio products from this plant will include acetic acid and furfural besides production of biodegradable plastic out of furfural in collaboration with IIT Guwahati.

The plant is scheduled to be commissioned by December 2021, he informed. For successful implementation of the project, the MD made several requests to the Chief Minister and sought his help on issues related to Forest, PWD and security related matters. The Chief Minister assured to look into all the requests positively, so that NRL continues to be a leading force in the industrial landscape of the state.

Sonowal inspected the construction work of embankment by Water Resource Department from Morihula to Agoratoli range as a protection measure for Kaziranga National Park (KNP). While surveying the work, he directed the department to complete the embankment project within May 30.

The embankment project, funded by Asian Development Bank, would cover a total length of 23.38 kms and with a width of 7.5 m would protect the KNP from floods and erosion.

Chief Minister informed that even though embankment work could not be started on time due to COVID-19 lockdown, State Government had started the construction work of embankments so that all these projects could be completed by May 30. In view of the impending floods from the month of June, the State Government was taking all steps to complete the embankment construction works within this month so that the people and property could be protected from the annual onslaughts of floods in the state. He opined that if the projects were completed on time, a lot of people and their farming lands would be saved from the devastation caused by major rivers.

He also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for announcing Rs 20 lakh crore economic stimulus package for reenergizing Indias economy in the aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic and said that State Government would continue to strive for Assams economic development in parallel to the fight against coronavirus.

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Assam CM asks Numaligarh Refinery to play proactive role in promoting agro-based economy - Economic Times