Numaligarh Refinery (NRL) and Oil India (OIL) based in Assam announced their plan to establish approximately eight to ten Compressed Bio-Gas Plants across various districts of Assam and neighboring North-East states. This green initiative aimed to generate wealth from waste and tackle the growing issue of waste management in urban areas of the North East Region.

During a Technical Symposium on ?Creating Wealth from Waste: Role of Startup and New Enterprises? organized by the Pollution Control Board of Assam in Guwahati, C&MD of OIL and Chairman of NRL, Dr Ranjit Rath, revealed the collaboration with Urban Local bodies for municipal solid waste collection. He mentioned the initiation of this collaboration in his speech.

Dr. Ranjit Rath also disclosed plans to develop the OIL Township at Duliajan into a SMART city, focusing on modern living amenities such as efficient solid waste disposal and treatment, improved drainage systems, and waste segregation at the source.

Addressing the legacy waste issue in Tinsukia, Dr. Ranjit Rath highlighted OIL's active involvement in its management. He emphasized the significance of waste segregation at the household level and highlighted potential opportunities for start-ups within this framework.

MD of NRL, Bhaskar Jyoti Phukan, stressed the necessity of establishing an effective ecosystem where industries collaborate with the Pollution Control Board of Assam to address environmental challenges. He pointed out the current unsustainable revenue models and encouraged young entrepreneurs to innovate solutions for micro-level environmental issues.

Dr. B. Kalyan Chakravarthy, Principal Secretary to the Government of Assam, commended the sincere efforts of OIL and NRL in waste-to-wealth management in the region during his address.