Praj Industries Limited (Praj) announced innovative solution to process sugarcane juice in to a new sustainable feedstock BIOSYRUP® for round the year ethanol production.

Sugarcane juice is a perishable and seasonal feedstock that cannot be stored for more than 24 hours. Praj has developed a patented technology to process cane juice into conditioned BIOSYRUP® that has storability of upto 12 months. This facilitates sugar mills to produce ethanol beyond sugar season thus helping increase production capacity & maximize revenue.

Praj’s first of its’ kind patented technology for producing BIOSYRUP® was successfully demonstrated during the launch ceremony held at M/s Jaywant Sugars, Satara on Friday, 3^rd December 2021. Mr. Jaiprakash Dandegaonkar – President National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF) & Chairman of Sakhar Sangh, Mumbai was the chief guest of the function, that was also attended by Guest of Honor, Mr. Shekhar Gaikwad, Sugar Commissioner along with other dignitaries of sugar industries.

Sugar sector is experiencing challenges of sugar glut due to demand supply mismatch. Traditionally, sugar mills are constrained to produce ethanol only during sugar season. To avoid excess sugar production, GOI permitted direct use of sugar cane juice for production of ethanol as part of National Biofuels Policy 2018.

Praj’s commercial demo facility for production of Ethanol from BIOSYRUP® has been successfully implemented in M/s Jaywant Sugars. BIOSYRUP® was stored for the period of one year and no sugar loss was observed even after the period of 12 months. The technology has been validated and certified Vasantdada Sugar Institute (VSI)- India’s premier sugar research institution.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Shekhar Gaikawad, Commissioner of Sugar said, “Currently India has a surplus sugar production of 6 MMT which blocks the liquidity of sugar mills for 18 to 24 months. Diverting sugarcane juice to ethanol production is the only sustainable way forward for sugar mills in the long term. I congratulate Team Praj for achieving such a great milestone which I am sure will become game changer not only in domestic but also in global sugar sector at large.”

Speaking at the Global Launch, Dr. Pramod Chaudhari – Executive Chairman Praj Industries said that “This is a landmark development for sugar industry that is facing market headwinds. BIOSYRUP® technology will help sugar mills sweat their assets and report better financial performance. Importantly this will step up ethanol production to meet 20% EBP targets. Coupled with advances in logistics, BIOSYRUP® technology is helping nationwide production and realization of ‘Anytime Anywhere Ethanol.’ Praj has always taken pride in developing and deploying innovative solutions for helping uplift the farmers community and boost the rural economy. I gratefully acknowledge continued co-operation of Commissioner of Sugar, VSI, Sakhar Sangh- Mumbai and Jaywant Sugar in this initiative. Our customers around the world are showing strong interest in this technology.”

Following its launch last week, BIOSYRUP® is catching attention from non sugar states around the nation in addition to sugar industry and is seen as a milestone in evolution of India’s ethanol industry in its growth journey.