By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, August 12, 2018: Indian government owned Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) will set up a second generation ethanol plant in Odisha with an estimated investment of Rs 747.46 crore, official sources said.

Spread over the ethanol bio-refinery with a capacity of 100 kilo litre per day (KLPD) will be set up at Baulsingha village in Bargarh district in an area of 58.44 acres. The project is expected to provide jobs for 200 persons directly and around 1,000 persons indirectly during the operation phase.

The union environment ministry has issued the environment clearance (EC) with few riders after the Environment Assessment Committee (EAC) vetted the BPCL’s proposal last month and recommended for EC to the ethanol project.

The project is in line with the government’s national bio-fuel policy, which mandates 5 per cent blending of ethanol with petrol.

The company said it will use Lignocelluloses biomass, which is seen as an attractive feedstock for renewable fuels, particularly ethanol.

It also said that setting up of a second generation ethanol plant is important considering the government’s plan to increase ethanol blending with petrol to 20 per cent by 2020.

“With first generation biofuel plants, India can only feed up to 3 per cent of this demand. But an increase in the second generation ethanol production could feed further demand, if such biofuel plants are set up everywhere around the country,” it added.