Telangana Social Welfare Minister Koppula Eshwar performed Bhoomi Pujan of the Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited (Kribhco) ethanol plant in Jagtial district of the state last week.
The plant is being set up on the outskirts of Sthambam Palli village in Vegatoor mandal of Jagtial district. The Telangana government has earmarked 100 acres of government land and allocated Rs 13 crore for the land leveling works to facilitate setting up of a Rs 700 crore ethanol plant with a capacity to produce 8 crore litres of ethanol per annum.
Speaking on this occasion, Eshwar said, “The government had decided in November last year to set up a highly prestigious ethanol plant under the aegis of Kribhco. The proposed plant will not only be immensely beneficial for the local farmers but also create jobs for unemployed youths in Jagtial district”.
The ethanol would be produced from rice, straw, rice husk, rice bran, corn and one of major crops produced in the district like paddy, maize and corn.
It bears recalling that Kribhco will set up three ethanol manufacturing plants in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the next three years at the estimated cost of Rs 1000 crore.
The fertilizer cooperative ethanol plant at Gujarat’s Hazira is under construction. The Union Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah laid its foundation stone in September last year.
It is said that Kribhco has signed a long-term offtake agreement with Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) for the ethanol. It also plans to market its ethanol to other state-owned oil-marketing firms such as Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) for blending in auto fuel.
Kribhco earned an ever-highest profit of Rs 1493.26 crore of its existence in the financial year 2021-22. The society achieved sales of 44.00 Lakh MT fertilizers during 2021-22. The society has achieved Urea sales of 34.58 Lakh MT.