The country’s aggressive targets to blend 20% ethanol with petrol by 2025 has received a boost with an innovative solution from Praj Industries, which enables round-the-year ethanol production. Instead of making sugar and holding the inventory, the technology offers sugar mills the flexibility to choose between sugar and ethanol production to improve their financial viability. The Praj Industries solution processes sugarcane juice into a new sustainable feedstock, ‘biosyrup’, that has an extended shelf life of one year.
Pramod Chaudhuri, executive chairman, Praj Industries, called this a win-win for all sugar stakeholders and said it would help them play a critical role in the energy transition of the country. This improved the economics of the sugar mills with better cash flows and would ultimately help farmers get remunerative prices, Chaudhari said.
Sugarcane juice is a perishable and a seasonal feedstock that cannot be stored for more than 24 hours. Praj’s patented technology to process cane juice into conditioned biosyrup that has storability of up to 12 months, facilitates sugar mills to produce ethanol beyond the sugar season, Chaudhuri said.
When there is a glut in sugar production or when ethanol prices are attractive, sugar mills can get better price realisation by opting to make the biosyrup. Sugar mills are normally operational only for 140 to 150 days. Traditionally, sugar mills produce ethanol only during sugar season.