Numaligarh: The world’s tallest grass could offer fresh support to Assam’s tea industry, which has been facing a difficult phase. Several tea estates and small growers are now looking at bamboo cultivation as a new source of income, The Hindu reported.
In August 2022, the Assam government amended the Assam Fixation of Ceiling on Land Holding Act of 1956, allowing tea gardens to use up to five per cent of their land for activities other than tea cultivation. Following this change, some tea estates located within about a 300-km radius of a major bioethanol plant have begun using part of their land to grow bamboo.
The plant, located at Numaligarh, around 260 km east of Guwahati, is India’s first commercial-scale second-generation bioethanol facility that uses bamboo as a raw material. Built at a cost of ₹4,930 crore and spread over 43 acres, the unit has been set up by Assam Bio Ethanol Private Limited (ABEPL). The company is a joint venture of Numaligarh Refinery Limited, a Navaratna public sector company, along with Finland-based Chempolis Oy and Fortum.
Experts at ABEPL said producing ethanol from second-generation plants costs more than conventional methods but does not depend on food crops, making it more sustainable and environmentally friendly. While traditional ethanol is produced from food grains, the new process uses plant residue such as bamboo.
Officials said studies carried out in Finland showed that freshly harvested bamboo, when processed properly, could replace food crops as a reliable raw material. The plant’s location was chosen because the surrounding region produces large quantities of bamboo.
The bamboo supply system was put in place before Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the plant to the nation in September 2025. According to ABEPL officials, the facility needs around five lakh metric tonnes of green bamboo every year to produce about 49,000 metric tonnes of ethanol. The plant also produces by-products such as furfural, acetic acid, liquid carbon dioxide and bio-coal, which is used to run its 25 MW captive power unit.
So far, ABEPL has registered about 4,200 bamboo farmers across 26 districts in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland. The target is to onboard 30,000 farmers, but current supplies are still not enough to meet the plant’s full requirement.
This has opened up an opportunity for tea gardens, many of which have spare land that can be used for non-tea activities. Some estates have already started bamboo plantations, while others are considering the option, according to Bidyananda Barkakoty, adviser to the North Eastern Tea Association.
Planters believe supplying bamboo to the bioethanol plant could help the tea sector cope with challenges such as climate-related production losses, ageing tea bushes, rising costs, labour shortages and poor infrastructure.
To ensure a steady supply, ABEPL has introduced a structured system under which farmers deliver bamboo to nearby chipping centres located within 30 to 40 km of their farms. The processed bamboo is then transported to the plant, and payments are made immediately across the supply chain.
As part of its long-term plan, the company aims to distribute 60 lakh bamboo saplings free of cost. While six bamboo species are suitable for processing, the saplings being supplied belong to the Bambusa tulda variety, locally known as Jatibanh. These saplings are grown in state government nurseries.
Officials said bamboo takes around four years to mature and that the goal is to bring about 12,500 hectares under bamboo cultivation. Tea gardens within the 300-km radius of the plant together cover nearly 2.5 lakh hectares, of which around 12,500 hectares could potentially be used for bamboo farming.
