Chhattisgarh’s first ethanol plant to come up in Kabirdham district

Chhattisgarh’s first ethanol plant will be constructed near Bhoramdev Cooperative Sugar Factory in Kabirdham district. The district administration has identified 35 acres of vacant land adjacent to the factory for setting up the plant.

Implementation of the project has been accelerated after Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said he would include the agriculture-based ethanol plant as one of the priority schemes of his government. The plant will have a capacity of 80 kilo litres per day (KLPD).

The Chhattisgarh government has decided to involve private players for financial and technical participation in the project to strengthen the state’s economy. The state’s first ethanol plant will be set up under the public-private-partnership (PPP) model.

State government officials claimed that this will be the first ethanol plant to be set up in the country under the PPP mode.

The state government had considered all micro issues before allotting the work after floating a tender at the national level, the officials added.

A contract has been signed between Bhoramdev Cooperative Sugar Factory and NKJ Biofuel, a subsidiary of Chhattisgarh Distillery.

The establishment of an ethanol plant will generate direct and indirect employment opportunities in the region and boost economic prosperity in the region.

“The company has been asked to expedite the construction work and complete the project within the stipulated time,” Kabirdham collector Janmejay Mahobe said.

Under the agreement, the construction work would be completed by the end of the current calendar year. Technical officials of the company had also said the project would be completed within the time frame.

Bhupendra Thakur, general manager of Bhoramdev Cooperative Sugar Factory, said the ethanol plant would be built with hybrid technology. In this, ethanol will be made directly from sugarcane juice during the sugarcane crushing season and molasses during off-season.

He added that for the conversion of sugarcane juice into ethanol, a huge quantity of juice would be required. Hence, the factory had decided to enhance the volume of sugarcane procurement from farmers. More units would be set up in the factory for extracting sugarcane juice.

Officials said the Baghel government had taken a slew of measures for the welfare of farmers since it came in December 2018. They included waiving off the farm loans.

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