Ammana Bio sets up bio-fuel unit in Chittoor

Ammana Bio Pharma Limited has established a bio-fuel manufacturing unit in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh at a cost of Rs 30 crore. The unit will have a capacity to manufacture 90 million litres of ethanol per annum from sweet sorghum.

The company has tied-up with Andhra farmers, who will be cultivating sorghum in 1,000 hectares of land. Incidentally, this is the only company in the state that is into ethanol production from sorghum. The other companies that produce ethanol in the state do so from sugarcane.

Addressing the media, B G K Murthy, executive director, Ammana Bio Pharma (P) Ltd, said, "Sorghum needs only one-third of the water that is used to irrigate sugarcane. Besides, it requires less fertilisers and can be harvested in around 100 days after planting, thus enabling cultivation of two crops in a year."

According to Murthy, a farmer can earn profits of around Rs 7,000 per year on every hectare that is used for growing sorghum. The company has also bid for a BPCL tender for supplying ethanol and is expecting the results to be out within a week.

"We need to ensure that there is more cultivation of sweet sorghum as it is a multi-purpose crop. It yields food in the form of grain, ethanol from its stem juice and fodder from its leaves and bagasse," he added.

Xylitol that can be extracted from the bagasse can be used as an additive in the food and beverages industry besides as a sweetener in chewing gums. "Policosanol, which is widely used in Cuba and the US for its anti-cholesterol properties, can also be extracted from the wax on the leaves of sweet sorghum," Murthy said.