Bhubaneswar, October 10, 2018: The foundation stone for country’s first 2G Ethanol Bio-refinery of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited was laid at Baulasingha under Bhatli tehsil in Bargarh district on Wednesday.
Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal laid the foundation stone in the presence of Union Petroleum and Natural Gas and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Rajya Sabha Member Prasanna Acharya and almost all the MLAs and MPs of Bargarh district.
The proposed bio-refinery, the first of its kind to be set up, will have a capacity to produce three crore litres of fuel grade ethanol annually using rice straw as the feedstock. Ethanol will be blended with petrol and used as fuel.
Ethanol produced from this plant will be blended with Petrol. The cost of the project is around Rs 1000 crore.
The Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) will complete commissioning of its second generation (2G) ethanol bio-refinery by 2020.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister Pradhan described the ethanol bio-refinery at Bargarh as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Nuakhai gift for the people of western Odisha.
“It’s unique ‘waste-to-wealth’ model will help in reducing pollution, usher prosperity for farmers by providing them with additional income and increasing employment in Odisha,” said Pradhan.
Biofuels have assumed importance recently due to the growing energy security needs and environmental concerns.
Several countries have put forth different mechanism and incentives to encourage production and use of biofuels to suit their domestic requirements.
India has surplus biomass availability of about 120-160 MMT annually which if converted, has the potential to yield 3000 crore litres of ethanol.
The National Biofuel Policy of India 2018 targets 20 per cent Ethanol blending to petrol by 2030. However, due to non-availability of ethanol, the current ethanol blending in petrol is about three to four per cent.