Mangaluru: Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), a subsidiary of ONGC, proposes to set up a 60 KLPD 2G Ethanol plant at Harihara in Davangere District of Karnataka.The feed stocks for the plant will be based on Agro residues viz Corn cob, Cotton stalk etc. The Ethanol produced from the plant will be blended with Petrol. The Government of India is emphasising on achieving energy security with a target of reducing import dependence i.e. usage of fossil fuels by 10 per cent from current levels by the year 2022, a statement by MRPL said here on Friday.The National Policy on Biofuels announced in 2018 is aimed at accelerated promotion of Biofuels with indicative targets of achieving 20 per cent blending in Petrol and 5 per cent blending in Diesel by 2030. Apart from reduction of imports the 2G ethanol usage in petrol also helps to reduce the Greenhouse gas emissions and also provide additional income to the farmers .
Land for the project has been procured from KIADB. Presently the Engineering package is being prepared for the project. Based on the present progress the plant is expected to be commissioned in March 2024, the statement added.