Minister of Road, Transport and Highways (MoRTH)- Nitin Gadkari has been advocating the adoption of biofuel based technology for quite some time. In the latest development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unveiled Asia's first 2G ethanol bio-refinery of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) at Panipat Haryana on the occasion of World Biofuels Day. Praj is technology licensor and EPCM partner for this project and it's based on Praj's proprietary technology processing Rice Straw as feedstock for production of Ethanol. Spanning across 35 acres, this 2G ethanol bio-refinery is capable of processing 2 lakh tonnes of rice straw annually to generate around 3 crore litres of Ethanol using Praj's proprietary technology.
PM Modi said," Biofuel for us means green fuel, environment-saving fuel. With establishment of this modern plant, farmers of Haryana, where Rice and wheat are grown in abundance, will get another lucrative means of using crop residue. Farmers will now feel the pride of contributing to production of biofuel and nation building."
While benefiting more than 1 lac farmers, this bio-refinery is expected to create around 1500 jobs in the rural areas and will help address the major challenge of stubble burning related pollution by eliminating around 3,20,000 MT of CO2 every year which is equivalent to replacing nearly 63,000 cars on road annually. The company claims that the 2G bio-refinery will save foreign exchange worth Rs. 55 crore - Rs. 60 crore every year, which is incurred on fuel imports. This project will give boost to Make in India initiative & help achieve 20 per cent ethanol blending.
Praj's indigenously developed 'enfinityTM' technology processes different agricultural residues to produce a variety of products including Bioethanol, Lignosulphonates, Bio-bitumen with highest efficiencies. The commissioning of the bio-refinery began in the first week of August 2022 and commercial production of 2G ethanol will begin in less than 90 days. Along with this project, Praj is also setting up similar projects for Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), Bhatinda, Punjab and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Bargarh, Orissa.
