In a bid to promote ethanol production in the state, the Manohar Lal Khattar led Haryana Government has introduced a separate licence for distilleries for the production of ethanol only.
The State Government has released the Punjab Distillery (Haryana Second Amendment) Rules, 2021, introducing two separate categories of licences to push for ethanol production in Haryana.Earlier, only a D-2 licence was issued for setting up a distillery in the state. Now, a D-2A licence will be issued for a new standalone separate ethanol plant installed within existing licensed premises of D-2 licence, provided there should be no common boiler, turbine, distillation process among similar facilities. A separate D-2B licence has also been introduced for a distillery only for production of ethanol.
As far as annual licensing fee is concerned, the applicant will have to deposit Rs 15,00,000 (Rs 15 lakh) for a D-2A licence in addition to licence fee for existing D-2 licence. Rs 5,00,000 (Rs 5 lakh) will be charged as a licencing fee to get a D-2B licence in the state.The licencing fee to get a D-2 licence remains the same as Rs 1,25,0000 (Rs 1.25 crore) plus Rs 1,30,000 per kilolitre of installed capacity to be charged to the applicants.According to the new rules, “the licenses shall not be transferable except with the sanction of the Financial Commissioner, Excise and Taxation.
The licensee holding the license will have to execute a bond, pledging the premises, stock of spirit, stills, all apparatus and utensils employed in the manufacture and storage of spirit for the due discharge of all payments which may become due to Government.””A license granted under these rules shall be valid for a period of one year from the date of issue unless it is cancelled, determined or surrendered earlier and shall be renewable annually on the application of the licensee on payment of annual fee. A license may be cancelled for breach of the terms and conditions thereof or as may be determined by the Financial Commissioner after giving the licensee six months’ notice,” the new rules stated.
Notably, Haryana is focusing on boosting ethanol production. The State Government had earlier directed the industries to use stubble for ethanol and also planned to ramp up the ethanol production with the help of sugar mills. With an aim to lower the expenditure on foreign exchange, the Central Government has set a target of blending 20 percent ethanol with petrol by 2025.
