Godavari Bio expands fuel grade ethanol facility in Karnataka

Godavari Biorefineries has completed expansion of increasing dehydrated ethanol (fuel grade) manufacturing capacity to 50 million litres per annum at Sameerwadi in Karnataka.

"With this expansion, the company has capacity to make 50 million litres per year of fuel grade ethanol, up from 15 million litres currently. The expansion of the fully automated plant using Molecular Sieve Dehydration Technology was completed in 5 months," a company statement said.

"The facility will use byproducts of their sugar manufacturing process as raw material," it added.

On the development, its CMD Samir Somaiya said: "The expansion is an extension of our strategy to create more value from our renewable stocks. The expansion will help our greater participation in the blending programme of the government that mandates target of 5 per cent blending of bio fuel with petrol." Godavari Biorefineries is a bio-refining company producing sugar, bio-fuels, chemicals, power, compost, waxes, and related products, using sugarcane as the primary feedstock.

It has manufacturing plants at Sameerwadi, Bagalkot district in Karnataka and Sakarwadi, Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra.

The firm had recently raised private equity from Mandala Capital, a part of which was for the setting up of this plant.