PurposeThis study aims at designing a consortium using rumen bacterial isolates for enhancing the hydrolysis of sugarcane bagasse (SB) for efficient biofuel formation.MethodsThe microbial population was screened through biochemical and molecular tools along with enzymatic activity to obtain potential isolates for diverse cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic carbohydrate active enzyme (CAZyme). Five strains (Paenibacillus, Bacillus, Enterobacter, and Microbacterium) were selected for designing the consortium NDMC-1. The hydrolytic efficiency of NDMC-1 was determined based on cellulase production with simultaneous rise in monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, and soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) concentration. Cellulolytic machinery of these isolates was further explored using genome sequencing.ResultThe isolates selected for consortia NDMC-1 interacted synergistically leading to enhanced cellulase production. Maximal endoglucanase (1.67molml(-1)min(-1)), exoglucanase (0.69molml(-1)min(-1)), and -glucosidase (2.03molml(-1)min(-1)) activity were achieved with SB as a sole carbon source after 48h of incubation. Enhancement in SB hydrolysis employing NDMC-1 was evident by the increase in sCOD from 609 to 2589mg/l and release of 1295mg/l reducing sugar, comprising 59.8\%, 8.23\%, and 6.16\% of glucose, cellobiose, and cellotriose, respectively, which resulted in 5.5-fold rise in biogas production. On genome annotation, total 472 contigs from glycoside hydrolase family: 84 from Microbacterium arborescens ND21, 72 from Enterobacter cloacae ND22, 61 from Bacillus subtilis ND23, 116 from Paenibacillus polymyxa ND24, and 140 from Paenibacillus polymyxa ND25 were identified. On further analysis, total 33 cellulases, 59 hemicellulases, and 48 esterases were annotated in the reported genomes.ConclusionThis work proposes the application of consortia-based bioprocessing systems over the conventionally favorable single organism approach for efficient hydrolysis of cellulosic substrates to fermentable sugars.