Aurangabad: For the first time in Maharashtra, ethanol will be produced using bamboo and a refinery project will be set up in Gadchiroli and Nandurbar districts, reports The Times of India.
The project would come up in collaboration with Nagarjuna Group and Lodga Bamboo Industries of Latur district to set up an ethanol unit.
The agreement was signed by Pasha Patel, former MLC who is leading the bamboo plantation movement on behalf of Lodga Bamboo Industries and Dr. Banibrata Pande of Nagarjuna Group.
The refinery project will have the capacity to produce 30,000 litres of ethanol per day, said Patel.
India’s commitment to blending 20% ethanol with petrol by 2025 will provide an opportunity to produce ethanol using bamboo as raw material.
The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and Nagarjuna Industries have developed a technology to use bamboo to produce ethanol.
The plant will require around 60,000-tonne bamboo grown over 1,500 acres every year to produce ethanol.
