India’s Odisha state approves three ethanol projects

MUMBAI (ICIS)–India’s eastern state of Odisha has approved three ethanol projects which are expected to augment the availability of ethanol for blending with auto fuel, a state government source said on Tuesday.

State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) plans to set up a 500 kilolitre/day plant at Balgopalpur industrial estate in Balasore. The plant is expected to require an investment of Indian rupees (Rs) 8.7bn ($117m).

Another state-owned company Hindustan Petroleum Corporation’s (HPCL) will also set up an ethanol plant at Umerkote in Nabarangpur district.

The plant, which will be set up in two phases with an investment of Rs5bn, will produce 500 kilolitres/day of ethanol.

Newalt Energy will invest Rs1.25bn to set up a 100 kilolitres/day ethanol plant in Angul district.

All these plants will use grain as feedstock for ethanol production, the government source said but did not provide a timeline for the completion of these projects.

In December 2020, the Indian government allowed the use of foodgrains for the production of ethanol.

The government has allocated nearly 78,000 tonnes of rice from its central stocks at the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to distilleries to produce ethanol, as per official data.

India is expected to blend around 8.5% of ethanol with auto fuel in the current ethanol supply year which runs from December 2020 to November 2021.

India expects to blend 10% ethanol with petrol by 2022 and 20% by 2025.

($1= Rs 74.3)