Samir Somaiya, CMD, Godavari Biorefineries Limited, took center stage as the keynote speaker of the session on ‘Sustainability through Diversification’ sharing strategies and innovative approaches for the sugar industry at 64th ISO Council Meeting. He addressed the issues in the fossil economy and innovative approaches to reverse climate change aiming to achieve the green transition.
Speaking on ethanol blending, he said, “Five or six years ago when we were probably doing in the range of 2 percent, to articulate the 20 percent blend, I think the world thought it was crazy and certainly not possible. It was reported a month ago 15 percent blend, I think the world is surprised and we are delighted to be part of this journey. To achieve the 20 percent ethanol blending target, Govt articulated that half of this would come from sugarcane and half from grain.
Emphasizing on diversification- feedstock and production, Godavari’s CMD stated, “What many mills are doing at least now in sugarcane sector, we are creating bolt-in mills, which means we will also do grain in same mills as we are doing cane. There are various options we can choose in terms of freedom to operate. I think as we go forward there will be other crops that we can work on. I think there also be going to work done on sweet sorghum. My own company is also working on tropical sugar beet. I think there is one factory in Punjab working very well on tropical beet. But I also think in sometime tropical sugar beet will also be an interesting supplementary resource for sugarcane-based ethanol. Renewables can meet our all needs of petrol.”
Narender Mohan, Former Director of NSI, guided the discussion on ‘Sustainability through Diversification’ at the 64th ISO Council Meeting, sharing his valuable expertise. He stressed on how India’s journey towards sustainability is driven by diversification and utilizing residues for enhanced production.
Atul Mulay, Co-President of Praj Industries Ltd., also added his perspective as a panellist, on various subjects related to ‘Sustainability through Diversification’.
Avantika Saraogi, Director of Balram Chinni Mills Ltd., in the session explored the potential of various other by-products that can be derived from sugar.
George Thomas, India Foreign Services, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas discusses how the global biofuel alliance benefits the sugar industry and addresses sustainability issues.
India is hosting a global event in sugar sector ‘ISO Council Meeting’ in New Delhi from 25th till 27th June, 2024. Delegates from more than 30 countries and representatives of many international organisations have joined to deliberate on critical issues of sugar and biofuel sector.
