EID Parry (India), a leading sugar manufacturer, plans to spend of ₹268 crore for expanding its ethanol production capacity.
As part of its future growth strategy, the company has been expanding its ethanol & extra neutral alcohol (ENA) production capacities across its plants to take advantage of the emerging potential in the green energy space.
At the Sankili unit in Andhra Pradesh, the 120 KLPD (kilo litres per day) multi-feed distillery unit project has been completed and production commenced in January 2023 for the syrup-based distillery. The grain-based distillery project is in progress and is expected to be completed by April 2023, according to S Suresh, Managing Director of the company.
At Haliyal distillery, the capacity is being expanded to 120 KLPD from 50 KLPD. Also, the Board recently approved the expansion of the Nellikuppam facility from 75 KLPD to 120 KLPD.
“Once these expansions are in place, our overall distillery capacity will be at 582 KLPD. Both these expansions will involve a capital outlay of ₹268 crore, which will be spent in FY2024, Suresh said, in an investors conference call.
Ethanol is described as a clean fuel, which benefits the environment. Ethanol blending with petrol has been gradually increasing in the country in recent years, and in June 2022, India achieved the target of supplying 10 per cent ethanol-blended petrol, five months ahead of schedule, up from 0.67 percent blending in 2012. The country aims to double the blending to 20 per cent by 2025-26, for which it will need an estimated 2.68 billion gallons or 10.15 billion litres of ethanol.
As per the projections by NITI Aayog, the estimated requirement of ethanol for blending with petrol is 542 crore litres for Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2022-23, 698 crore litres for ESY 2023-24, 988 crore litres for ESY 2024-25 and 1016 crore litres for ESY 2025-26.
The current annual ethanol production capacity is estimated at 1,037 crore litres, including 700 crore litres of molasses-based and 337 crore litres of grain-based production capacity.
Oil Central Public Sector Enterprises are also setting up second-generation ethanol bio-refineries at Panipat (Haryana), Bathinda (Punjab) and Bargarh (Odisha), each with a production capacity of 100 KLPD and at Numaligarh (Assam) with a production capacity of 185 KLPD.
On the NSE today, the EID Parry share, of face value ₹1, closed at ₹503, which was down ₹18.30 (3.51 per cent) than the previous close.