Two MoU’s Signed with Private Companies for Setting up Nutritional Supplements, Fortified Rice and Ethanol and Power Plants

• 14 Jan 2023

Why In News?

• On January 13, 2023, Chhattisgarh Industry Department signed two MoU’s with private companies for setting up nutritional supplements, fortified rice and ethanol and power plants at Udyog Bhawan Raipur in the presence of Chhattisgarh Industries Minister Kawasi Lakhma.

Key points

• Chhattisgarh Industries Department and Suruchi Foods Private Limited, New Delhi signed an agreement for supplementary nutrition and fortified rice, in which the company will invest Rs 111.7 crore. This industry will provide employment to 800 people.
• Chhattisgarh Industries Department and Unity Industries Private Limited signed an agreement for ethanol extraction from table based corn starch and damaged rice and power plant, in which the company will invest Rs 183 crore. About 120 people will get employment from this industry. Thus, MoU's worth Rs 294.7 crore were signed.
• The MoU was signed by Bhupesh Yadav, Secretary, Chhattisgarh Industries Department, and Himanshu Gupta, Director, Suruchi Foods Pvt Ltd, for food supplements and fortified rice, while for ethanol extraction from table-based corn starch and damaged rice and power plant, Chhattisgarh Industries Department Secretary Bhuvnesh Yadav and Unity Industries Pvt Ltd Director Basant Kumar Agarwal signed the MoU.
• With the signing of these agreements, grains like rice, wheat, barley, maize and jowar can now be used in the making of ethanol.
• Fortified rice is nutritious and healthy. It is rich in iron, folic acid, vitamin B-12. Nutrients like iron, folic acid, vitamin B-12 present in it do not allow blood loss in adults and children and help in blood formation and proper functioning of the nervous system.
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had approved the plan to set up grain-based furnaces for ethanol production and expand existing grain-based furnaces. About 175 lakh metric tonnes of grains (rice, wheat, barley, maize and jowar) will be used when ethanol is produced from the grain, a release issued about the meeting said.
• Ethanol is a type of alcohol that can be mixed with petrol and used as fuel in vehicles. Ethanol is mainly produced from sugarcane crop but can also be prepared from many other sugary crops. This benefits both agriculture and the environment.
• Apart from this, ethanol is used to make varnish, polish, medicine solutions and their extraction, ether, chloroform, artificial colors, transparent soaps, perfume and fruit fragrance extracts and other chemical compounds. It is used as various drinks for drinking, as a bactericide in washing wounds and as a solution in the laboratory. It is added to drinking medicines and is also used to preserve dead organisms.
• Ethanol is prepared by two methods. The first is the synthesis method and the second is the fermentation method. Synthesis method: By absorbing ethylene gas into concentrated sulfuric acid, ethyl hydrogen sulfate is formed, which when boiled with water, hydrolyzes and gives ethyl alcohol. The prevalence of this method is not high yet.
• On the other hand, through fermentation method, alcohol is made in commercial quantity from any sugary substance (cane sugar, glucose, saltpetre, mahua flower etc.) or starchy substance (potato, rice, barley, corn etc.).