NRL inks agreement with Finnish firm to build biorefinery

Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) has signed an agreement with a Finland-based Chempolis Ltd for building biorefinery and producing bioethanol.
The agreement was signed between NRL MD P Padmanabhan and Chempolis Asia & Pacific and Americas President Pasi Rousu on October 15 in the presence of India President Pranab Mukherjee and his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto at Helsinki, an NRL release said here today.
NRL and Chempolis have agreed to jointly build a world- class biorefinery using 'Chempolisformicobio' technology in Assam for producing bioethanol with co-production of furfural and acetic acid from locally available cellulosic biomass.
According to the agreement, both the companies are committed to set up the biorefinery utilising Chempolis' 'formicobio' technology, using bamboo as main biomass which is abundantly available in Assam and in the North-Eastern region.

Project implementation was expected to take approximately 2.5 years.
For NRL, production of fuel grade ethanol would result in substantial savings and this project was expected to have minimal carbon footprint, the release added.
This project would also enable cultivation of bamboo on a commercially sustainable basis and boost rural economy of the region.