Bargarh,October 10: Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal today laid the foundation stone for establishment of the second generation (2G) ethanol Bio-Refinery, first in the country to produce ethanol from rice straw at Baulasingha village under Bhatli in Bargarh district.

Union Petroleum and Natural Gas (PNG) Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Handloom and Textiles of State Snehangini Chhuria, Rajya Sabha member Prasanna Acharya were also present during the foundation laying ceremony of the plant.

The Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) will set up the plant at estimated cost of Rs 1,000 crore. It has the capacity to produce three crore litres of fuel grade ethanol annually using rice straw as feedstock. The ethanol produced from this plant will be blended with petrol.

The commercial production will start after the mechanical commissioning in December 2020.

Apart from Odisha, the BPCL has also planned to set up two such plants in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The Bargarh Bio-Refinery will utilize about two lakh tonnes of rice straw annually as feedstock which will be sourced from nearby location like Bhatli, Ambabhona, Attabira, Sohela and Burla.