Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal on Wednesday laid the foundation stone for the proposed Second Generation (2G) Ethanol Bio-Refinery plant of the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BJCL) at Baulasingha under Bhatli tehsil in Bargarh district on Wednesday morning.
Union Petroleum and Natural Gas and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, State Steel and Mines Minister Prafulla Kumar Mallik, Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts Minister Snehangini Chhuria, Labour and ESI and Energy Minister Sushanta Singh, Rajya Sabha MP Prasanna Acharya, MP Prabhas Kumar Singh and MLAs of Bargarh district were present.
Addressing the meeting, the Governor said, “Ethanol plant at Bargarh is a gift to the farmers of Odisha. The project is an exclusive example of the developmental works under Sabka Saath Sabka Bikash programme laid Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The proposed ethanol plant will transform the socio-economic condition of tribals, farmers and the region as well.” Pradhan said: “With production of 17-18 lakh metric tonne paddy in Bargarh district, there is always equal amount of straw produced in the area. Farmers hardly use 6-7 lakh metric tonnes as fodder and burn the rest 10-12 lakh tonne, which creates severe environmental hazards. The ethanol plant will make a permanent solution to such problems with economic development of the farmers to an amazing extent. ”
This Bio-Refinery which is the first of its kind to set up will have a capacity to produce three crore litres of fuel grade ethanol annually using rice straw as feedstock and the ethanol produced from this plant will be blended with petrol. The cost of this project is around Rs 1,000 crore.
The Bargarh Bio-Refinery will utilize about two lakh tonnes of rice straw annually as feedstock which will be sourced from nearby locations like Bhatli, Ambabhona, Attabira, Sohela, Burla, Lakhanpur etc.
The plant will generate direct and indirect employments for about 1,200 persons.