In a bid to attract investors for ethanol production in the State, Department of Industries organised a Stakeholders’ Meet on the draft Jharkhand Ethanol Production and Promotion Policy 2021 on Tuesday during which the department announced that the State Government will provide 25 per cent capital subsidy for the investors.

Addressing the gathering Secretary, Department of Industries, Pooja Singhal said that the policy proposes a highly remunerative incentive structure including Capital Subsidy at 25 per cent of Investment made in fixed capital up to Rs  10 cr for MSMEs and Rs 50 cr for Non-MSMEs.

Singhal also said that one-time Skill Development Subsidy at Rs 13,000 per employee for the training of employees who are domicile of Jharkhand and Employment Cost Subsidy is 50 per cent reimbursement for male workers and 100 per cent reimbursement for female workers of expenditure on account of contribution toward ESI and EPF scheme for a period of 5 years for new units for those employees who are domicile of Jharkhand up to Rs. 1000 per month. She concluded by urging the investors to give their views and suggestions on the policy.

Seven policies will be presented for approval within the next two months. During the meeting to lure the investors for Ethanol production the department talked about the advantages of investing in Jharkhand including the location advantage, Ease of Doing Business, land bank available for allotment and the upcoming industrial parks and SEZs projects.

Singhal also gave an idea of the feedstock that can be used for Ethanol production and stated that Jharkhand can easily sustain a minimum of 600 KL per day of production for the captive market available in Eastern India.

Speaking on the occasion, Director Industries Jitender Kumar Singh gave a brief overview of the uses of Ethanol and the overall production figures from India. He also highlighted the benefits of Ethanol blending and gave examples from across the world including that of Brazil and the USA wherein Brazil has a molasses-based blending program and the USA has a starch-based blending program. Singh then proceeded to give Jharkhand’s production of Sugarcane, Rice and Maize and talked about the schemes launched by the Government of India for Ethanol production.

Deputy Commissioner, Department of Excise and Prohibition, Dr Rakesh Kumar concluded by assuring the investors that any applications for LoI will be addressed by the Department of Excise and Prohibition within a fortnight.

The open Question and Answer session was well received by the investors and included over six sessions. The investors lauded the incentive structures and gave their suggestions.

Before concluding the event, eight focused B2G sessions were conducted with a select group of large investors to increase the pace of industrialization in the State.

 Other officials at the event included Regional Director JIADA, Ajay Kumar Singh was present on the occasion The event was attended by over 50 investors.