Established at the cost of Rs 99 crore, an ethanol plant with the capacity of 60 KLPD (kiloliter per day) was virtually inaugurated by Haryana CM M.L. Khattar at Shahbad Cooperative Sugar Mill in Kurukshetra on Monday.
The CM said – “with the establishment of this ethanol plant at Shahbad Sugar Mill, there will be a revolutionary change in the economic condition of this mill. The youths will get direct and indirect opportunities for employment. With this ethanol plant, economic position will be strengthened and the payment of sugarcane growers will also be done on time.”
The development was inaugurated virtually by the CM from a function at Karnal and his political secretary Krishan Kumar Bedi along with Kurukshetra’s Deputy Commissioner (DC) Mukul Kumar were present at the spot to inaugurate the ethanol plant. Banwari Lal – Haryana Cooperation Minister, Ram Karan Kala – Shahbad Markanda MLA, Sanjeev Kaushal – Cooperation Department Additional Chief Secretary were also present at the virtual event and thanked CM for this development for the people of the constituency.
Under the Swaran Jayanti Scheme, the CM had virtually announced to establish 30 KLPD ethanol plants on 6th June 2016. The foundation stone of this ethanol plant was laid by former Haryana Cabinet Ministers – Manish Grover and Krishan Kumar Bedi on 10th September 2019.
The commission work of the plant started with its inauguration and the trial work will start in a few weeks. The production is going to start in the last week of December 2021.
“Ethanol will be prepared from the molasses produced during the mill operation. To improve the economic condition of sugar mills, it is necessary to set up such ethanol plants. The ethanol produced from this plant will be sold to the Oil Marketing Companies of the Government of India. The ethanol plant will prove to be helpful in controlling the rising petrol prices in the market and achieving the economic goals of the mill. When the financial position of the mill is strengthened, the payment of sugarcane growers will be done on time” – said Khattar.
Kurukshetra DC Mukul Kumar said – “establishment of the ethanol plant is a big achievement for the sugar mill and this mill will not have to suffer from the financial crisis in future.”
Shahbad Cooperative Sugar Mill crushed 76.81 lakh quintals of sugarcane and produced 8.34 lakh quintal sugars, during the last crushing season of 2020-21. The recovery of the mill is 10.86 percent and it generated an income of Rs 19.64 crore after exporting 4.85 crore units of electricity. For the present session of 2021-22, the mill has kept a target of crushing 80 lakh quintals of sugarcane, 11 percent sugar recovery, and production of 8.80 lakh quintals of sugar.
