The Punjab government has decided to set up five second generation bio-ethanol producing refineries, which would not only attract investments worth one billion US dollars, but would further its programme of generating clean and green energy from farm waste.
According to an official release on Thursday, Punjab Minister for New and Renewable Energy Bikram Singh Majithia presided over a meeting where he was presented a conceptual plan to set up Asia’s first such bio-ethanol producing refinery, at a cost of Rs.950 crore. To accomplish this, the State government would sign a memorandum of understanding with three companies, which were identified as Beta Renewables, Novozymes and CVC India Infrastructure Private Limited.
CVC India chairman K. Krishan explained that initially the project with design capacity of producing 75 million litres per year of cellulosic ethanol would be set up in the State.