• Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) will set up a Rs 400 crore grain-based ethanol plant with a capacity of 125 KL per day in Una district.
• Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said that the state government would provide about 70 acres for the plant and a rail-fed POL terminal of higher capacity.
• Major raw materials for producing ethanol such as rice and maize will be procured from Kangra, Hamirpur, Bilaspur and Una districts, besides Hoshiarpur and Rupnagar districts of Punjab.
• The project would be set up at a cost of Rs 400 crore and would provide direct and indirect employment to about 300 persons.
• Besides, the project would accelerate the pace of development in the state and earn an annual revenue of Rs 20 to Rs 25 crore for the exchequer in the form of State GST.
• The plant produces ethanol from grains to be mixed in petrol and diesel, which in turn will help in reducing pollution due to vehicular emission. This would also help in protecting the environment in the state, he added.

Ethanol Blending Programme

• Ethanol, an anhydrous ethyl alcohol having chemical formula of C₂H₅OH, can be produced from sugarcane, maize, wheat, etc which are having high starch content.
• In India, ethanol is mainly produced from sugarcane molasses by fermentation process.
• Ethanol can be mixed with gasoline to form different blends. As the ethanol molecule contains oxygen, it allows the engine to more completely combust the fuel, resulting in fewer emissions and thereby reducing the occurrence of environmental pollution. Since ethanol is produced from plants that harness the power of the sun, ethanol is also considered as renewable fuel.
• Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme was launched in January, 2003. The programme sought to promote the use of alternative and environment friendly fuels and to reduce import dependency for energy requirements.
• During 2001, pilot projects on Ethanol Blended Petrol started at 3 locations i.e., at Miraj, Manmad (Maharashtra) and Aonla/Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh. The Government of India decided to launch Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme in January, 2003 for supply of 5% ethanol blended Petrol.
• Subsequent to this, Ethanol Blended Petrol programme was launched in January, 2003 in 9 States i.e. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and 4 Union Territories.
• The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoP&NG) is the nodal agency for the implementation of this programme.
• This programme has been extended to whole of India except Union Territories of Andaman Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands with effect from 01st April, 2019 wherein OMCs sell petrol blended with ethanol up to 10%.
• The Government has 10% blending target for mixing ethanol with petrol by 2022 & 20% blending target by 2030.