Guwahati: Strong objections are being geared up to the proposed setting up of a biogas plant in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district, claiming the project would displace around 50,000 people and lead to the destruction of forests, reports The Week.
Addressing a press conference, Karbi Anglong District Congress Committee President Bidya Singh Rongpi demanded that the agreement signed for the project be cancelled to protect tribal land in the central Assam district.
“The government has signed an MoU to give 4,000 acres of land to Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries for the biogas plant,” Rongpi said. “All social organisations in the district are unhappy with the government’s decision to hand over such a vast area to a corporate.”
He claimed that the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) signed the agreement with Reliance Industries, and that the land transfer would lead to the displacement of people from various communities. “Around 50,000 people will be affected. Forests will be destroyed. That is why we are demanding the agreement be scrapped immediately,” Rongpi said.
Reliance Industries has not responded to the allegations so far.
Rongpi further alleged that the Assam government plans to hand over another 6,000 acres of land in the district to the Adani Group for setting up a solar power plant. He said this project could displace nearly 20,000 families. “We had opposed that project as well. The land belongs to the Karbi people and is protected under the Sixth Schedule. How can tribal land be handed over to corporate groups?” he asked.
During the Rising NorthEast Investors Summit held in New Delhi this May, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani had announced an investment of ₹75,000 crore in the region. This includes plans to set up 350 compressed biogas (CBG) plants, expand telecom services, and grow its clean energy and retail presence.
Ambani had stated that the biogas plants would convert organic waste into fuel for use in transportation, industry, and cooking. At an earlier event—the ‘Advantage Assam’ summit in Guwahati—he had said that Reliance aimed to establish two major hubs for CBG production in Assam, capable of generating 8 lakh tonnes of biogas annually, enough to fuel 2 lakh cars daily.
