India's Swaraj starts on Maharashtra ethanol plant

Indian ethanol producer Swaraj Green Power and Fuel has begun construction of a sugar- and grain-based fuel ethanol plant at Phaltan in west India's Maharashtra state, which will reach 1.1mn litres/d on completion.

The plant is expected on line in this year's final quarter and will produce 500,000 l/d of fuel ethanol during its first phase. A second construction phase will expand ethanol capacity to 1.1mn l/d, which is scheduled for completion during the first quarter of 2024.

The project has secured a 10-year government offtake arrangement for its ethanol, Swaraj owner Ranjeet Nimbalkar said, which will go towards fuelling the country's ambitious on-road blending mandate.

The plant will process sugarcane juice, sugar syrup and grain feedstocks into bioethanol using technology from partner Praj Industries. Ethanol made from these raw sugar feedstocks receive the highest offtake price in the Indian market set at 63.45 rupees/l ($0.85/l) during the current December 2021-November 2022 marketing year, as the government seeks to draw down the country's sugar glut. State-controlled oil marketing companies are free to decide offtake pricing for grain-based ethanol.

The Phaltan plant will also include a compressed biogas (CBG) plant producing up to 30 t/d of CBG, which can be used as a bio-based substitute to compressed natural gas.

Swaraj currently produces 60,000 l/d of fuel ethanol from molasses from its sugar mill in Upalve near Phaltan.

By Lauren Moffitt