Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday, 21 July 2026, announced the discovery of a 24-million-year-old Kewra (Pandanus) fossil from Makum in Tinsukia district, describing it as a window into the ancient floral ecosystem of the region.

Context

The fossil, unearthed from the Makum coal-mining belt, belongs to the Pandanus genus — commonly known as Kewra — a plant family estimated to be 85 million years old. According to CM Sarma, the specimen indicates that the plant migrated to the Indian subcontinent roughly 24 million years ago during the Miocene epoch, and has since established a persistent presence in Assam. 'Beneath Assam's surface, lies many such untold stories,' he wrote, signalling the state's geological depth beyond its visible biodiversity.

Makum sits within Tinsukia district in upper Assam and is historically associated with coal extraction. Its Tertiary sedimentary formations have long attracted the attention of Indian geologists, and the area's layered rock sequences are considered a repository of plant fossil records tied to the subcontinent's tectonic and climatic history.

Policy Backdrop

The India-Asia tectonic collision, which began roughly 50 million years ago, fundamentally reshaped plant migration routes across the subcontinent. Assam's coal belts and sedimentary basins have preserved evidence of successive floral arrivals that followed these geological upheavals, including the establishment of monsoon-adapted ecosystems. Institutions such as the Geological Survey of India and university departments have periodically documented Tertiary flora from Northeast India over several decades, building a patchwork record of ancient biodiversity.

State governments in the region have increasingly highlighted such discoveries as part of broader efforts to position Northeast India as a destination for scientific tourism and heritage conservation. A fossil find of this nature — linking a living, culturally significant plant like Kewra to a 24-million-year local lineage — carries both scientific and narrative weight for the state's identity.

Stakeholders and Impact

Paleobotanists and geologists stand to benefit most immediately, as the specimen could inform peer-reviewed reconstructions of Miocene plant biogeography in South Asia. The Pandanus genus is not merely a scientific curiosity — Kewra is culturally embedded in Assam, used in traditional medicine, weaving, and religious practice, making a fossil record of its ancient arrival particularly resonant for local communities.

The tourism sector in Tinsukia and the wider upper Assam belt could also benefit if the find is followed by institutional investment. A dedicated paleontological interpretive centre or repository at Makum would create a new category of geological heritage tourism, complementing the region's existing wildlife and tea-garden circuits.

What's Next

The immediate priority for the scientific community will be peer-reviewed publication of the fossil analysis, including independent confirmation of the 24-million-year age estimate and the Pandanus identification through laboratory methods. The institutional lead on the excavation and analysis has not been publicly confirmed at the time of this report.

Beyond the science, CM Sarma's post is likely to prompt questions about whether the Assam government will propose formal protections for fossil-bearing sites in the Makum coalfield — a zone where active mining and geological preservation have historically existed in tension. How the state balances those competing interests will determine whether this discovery becomes a one-off headline or the foundation of a lasting heritage initiative.