Pune-based Praj Industries, one of the largest integrated solution providers for sugar mills and breweries, will soon start commercial production of second generation cellulosic ethanol using agro waste and municipal solid waste as feedstock.
The company will set up a manufacturing facility with a capacity of 20,000 to 30,000 litres per day with an investment of over Rs 70 crore, Gajanan Nabar, managing director told Businessworld.
The company already runs a pilot plant with a capacity to process two tonnes of waste a day. Globally, second generation ethanol production technology is gaining momentum. Already a 220 kilolitre per day plant have come up in Italy and three more such units are coming up in UK.
With technological innovations in power savings, enzyme costs etc, the production charges could come down, said Nabar. The Rs 1,000 crore turnover Praj is one among the top ten ethanol technology providers in the world and operates in over 60 countries. Of the 350-400 ethanol plants in the country, Praj provided integrated technology solutions for more than 70 per cent.
Though India mandates 5 per cent blending of ethanol, the actual blending is close to only three per cent or worth Rs 100 crore. As against this, some of the African nations like Zimbabwe, Malawi or Thailand have already mandated 10 per cent blending of ethanol.
Nabar said now about 30 per cent of the revenues come from emerging businesses like waste and waste water treatment, critical process equipment and systems, high purity systems for industries like pharma and cosmetics and bio-products.
Another addition to business is modernisation and retro fitting of sugar mills and breweries to help them optimise production. For example, Praj’s technology solutions and biotech research enabled beer manufacturers to produce one litre of beer from ten litres of water to less than five litres of water. Going forward, efforts will be to get half the revenues from emerging business, said Nabar.
Last year, the company had booked orders worth over Rs 1000 crore and carry forward for execution is about Rs 850 crore. Praj spends over Rs 20 crore every year on research and development and now has over 120 scientists at its research and development centre.
