We have developed biobutanol and it is ready for commercialisation: Pramod Chaudhari, Praj Industries – Biobutanol Pramod Chaudhari Praj Industries - Arhive

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We have developed biobutanol and it is ready for commercialisation: Pramod Chaudhari, Praj Industries

Source : ET Now

In an interview with ET Now, Pramod Chaudhari, Praj Industries , talks about the company’s JV with Gevo and the overall growth prospects for the company. Edited excerpts:

Tell us a little bit more about this JV pact entering commercialisation phase? What does this bring to the table for Praj Industries?
Pramod Chaudhari: This is not a JV. This is a joint development. We are working for last two years under the lice development. We are working for last two years under the licence from Gevo of USA to develop an item called biobutanol from molasses. We have successfully developed this in our R&D centre and now after a successful trial, it is ready for commercialisation.
Tell us more about the this and do you see more such agreements being entered into?
Pramod Chaudhari: This technology is adaptable to the existing ethanol plants so we are creating additional revenue stream for our customers that while they can produce ethanol from molasses, they also have the option to produce biobutanol – which is butanol from the molasses. Butanol is high energy solvent or high energy alcohol and because of that it is also being converted. In fact the next step is to make it into jet biofuel. Using biobutanol as jet fuel allows planes to fly more miles using the same same quantity as normal jet fuel. This technology is being tested by Gevo in USA on couple of airlines. So this is what is exactly being done with the help of biobutanol. What we are supposed to do is to make this biobutanol available by FY19. The beginning of calendar year ’19, Gevo would like to start putting it into the commercial flights. It was their own plan to convert this into bio jet fuel. This is the game plan and the next step will be to make biobutanol from our second generation technology.
What is the current order backlog and which are the segments in which you are seeing a pickup in your orders?
Pramod Chaudhari: I am not going to discuss the numbers or anything just now.

I just want to get in a sense as to which are the sectors in which you are seeing a pickup in your orders? Which are those that are looking a bit sluggish? Can you give us an overall view from that sort of a standpoint? 

Pramod Chaudhari: We are awaiting development of second generation ethanol technology which we declared a few months back. Now those are getting converted into letter of intents and then the contracts. That is a major thing happening with the oil companies. The government has declared this program, a very ambitious program and that is going to be our major focus for coming months.

Could you give us a breakup then in terms of what the ethanol or the breweries segment is showing and what is going to be the key driver for your growth going forward?
Pramod Chaudhari: There is ethanol from first generation, ethanol from second generation – these are the key drivers for the coming months and the program of Government of India on the petroleum ministry to increase the blending is moving as per their own schedule and we expect a definite steady flow of orders in that direction.