Praj Successfully Demonstrates its Cellulosic Ethanol Technology

PUNE, India, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Mr. Nitin Gadkari, India's Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, inaugurated Praj's cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant near Pune, India on 7th May 2017. It is India's first integrated bio-refinery, built to showcase Praj's cutting-edge proprietary process technology to produce ethanol from agricultural waste.

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The demonstration plant has the capacity to produce 1 million liters of ethanol annually from a variety of biomass such as rice and wheat straw, cotton stalks, sugarcane trash, bagasse, corn cobs and stover. Backed by its expertise and experience of well integrated 1st generation technologies, Praj is confident that their 2nd generation ethanol technology will produce ethanol at the lowest cost and GHG emissions.

Praj's advance technology platform enables them to expand its technology portfolio to other renewable fuels and chemicals.

Praj, a company known for technologies which have continued to drive down GHG emissions as well as improve business sustainability significantly in 1st generation ethanol space, expects its 2nd generation ethanol technology to be a trailblazer in the industry.

Praj has invested close to US$ 30 m for the development of cellulosic ethanol technology over the period of last seven years from its internal accruals.

Praj has already signed MoUs with Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd to be their technology partners for certain projects in India.

In the first phase, about 10 to12 projects, based on 2nd Generation ethanol technology are being planned across the country, each with a capital outlay of approximately US$ 100 m and average capacity of 100,000 liters of ethanol per day.

Mr. Pramod Chaudhari, Executive Chairman, Praj said, "This technology has great potential to boost to rural economy, create employment and help improve sustainability significantly."

About Praj Industries Limited:
Praj is a global process solutions company driven by innovation and integration capabilities, offers solutions to add significant value to bio-ethanol facilities, critical process equipment & systems, Hipurity solutions and bio-products. Over the past three decades, Praj has focused on environment, energy and agri-process led applications. Praj has been a trusted partner for process engineering, plant & critical equipment and systems with over 750 references across five continents. Solutions offered by Praj are backed by its state-of-the-art R&D Center called Praj Matrix. Praj is listed on the Bombay and National Stock Exchanges of India.

Media enquiries:
Sandeep Jadhav
Praj Industries Ltd.
Tel: +91-20-71802000 / 22941000
Email: sandeepjadhav@praj.net