Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Sunday, Jan 27, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Sunday, Jan 27, 2002 |
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Corporate
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IPR Praj Industries filing patent for sugar beet alcohol technology Our Bureau
PUNE, Jan. 26 ETHANOL technology, plant and equipment manufacturer, Praj Industries, has started the process of filing for a patent for its technology for processing tropical sugar beet into alcohol, including fuel alcohol by bypassing the production of sugar in the first stage. The company, which specialises in developing alcohol technology, is also simultaneously stepping up its work in the area of research and development in the use of sugar beet as alternate feedstock, Mr Pramod Chaudhari, Chairman and Managing Director, told presspersons here. The company recently entered into an understanding with the Swiss seed company, Syngenta, which is cultivating the crop as part of a pilot project exploring the potential of sugar beet at Loni Kand, off Pune city, Mr Chaudhari said. ``Sugar beet has a growth cycle of 5 months as against the 12-month cycle of sugar can, it has more sugar in it and it requires lesser water for cultivation,'' Mr Chaudhari said, pointing out that the crop could get better returns for farmers and lower costs for distillers. Mr Chaudhari pointed out that sugar factories could use the crop to extend the crushing season which is often curtailed prematurely due to non-availability of sugarcane. The company is in the process of kicking off a Rs 1-crore research and development effort on the project, which is expected to start showing results by next year, he said. The Vasantdada Sugar Institute here is exploring the possibility of maximising sugar extraction out of tropical sugar beet . ``This could prove to be a low-cost solution for distillers and an alternative crop for cultivation for farmers, if it catches on,'' Mr Chaudhari said . Meanwhile, the company, which has just entered into a licence agreement with Delta T for its molecular sieve dehydration plants for the distillery industry now opting for ethanol facility (including fuel ethanol), has already bagged seven orders for the same, Mr Chaudhari said. Among the seven orders is one from the Sangli-based Datta Co-Operative Sugar Factory, expected to go on stream by April this year and another from Balrampur Chini, Mr Chudhari said, adding that three orders had been bagged from overseas markets. ``Having cornered 70 per cent of the domestic markets in alcohol technology, we now aim to expand our markets overseas and are already tapping South-East Asia, Latin America and Africa among others,'' he said. ``The strategy is to continuously explore alternative raw material or feed stock for distillers and focus on providing multi-feed plants,'' he said. Mr Chaudhary said the company, which has been on a downtrend since 1999, is now on the turnaround path. The licence agreement with Delta T is expected to add at least 30 per cent to the company's turnover in the first year. ``With more than 15 countries round the world having major fuel ethanol programmes, it is just a matter of time before India too steps it up,'' Mr Chaudhari said.
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