Praj Industries Limited (Praj) and Indian Oil Corporation (IndianOil) have partnered to explore opportunities to fast-track India’s transition to clean and green sources of energy by exploring avenues such as production of alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) fuels. A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed for , 1G and 2G ethanol, Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) and related opportunities in the biofuel industry. Exploring the green energy horizon will be crucial for India to achieve carbon neutrality by 2070.
A press release said, “This MoU will promote ATJ fuel production capacity and its use in India, which, in turn, will help in curbing emissions from airplanes as mandated by IATA (The International Air Transport Association). will help.”
IndianOil and Praj will collaborate to set up biofuel production facilities including CBG, biodiesel and thanol. The two companies will work together to facilitate the sale and marketing of the various by-products and intermediates produced from the facilities.
Praj and IndianOil will jointly work towards forming a 50:50 joint venture and will identify partners to form Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) under the proposed alliance.
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IndianOil President Shrikant Madhav Vaidya said in a statement, “Our alliance with PRAJ will increase the share of biofuels in India’s energy portfolio. Alcohol-to-jet fuel presents a great opportunity that can be used to significantly reduce carbon emissions in the aviation sector. To reduce the extent to be leveraged to comply with CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) guidelines.This development was unveiled by the Prime Minister at the COP26 Glasgow Summit to fight climate change and global warming. This is in line with the ‘Panchamrit’ agenda.”
Pramod Choudhary, Founder President, Praj Industries, said, “We are delighted to partner with IndianOil to increase the share of biofuels in India’s transportation fuel mix. The objectives of this comprehensive MoU are strategic in nature and cover socio-economic-environmental aspects related to the development of the nation. In a world crippled by climate change, campaigning towards a low carbon economy is not an option; It’s an obligation! Biofuels are playing an important role in sustainable climate action.”
Presently, Praj is executing India’s first second generation ethanol plant for IndianOil at IndianOil’s Panipat facility. Praj is also building a water and wastewater treatment plant for IndianOil’s Dumad petrochemical complex.
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