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Praj Industries’ Lignin Bio-Bitumen Inaugurated by Minister Nitin Gadkari

News Desk — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 11:21:10 +0000

Roads constructed with lignin bio-bitumen blended at up to 15%, can achieve a 70% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to conventional fossil-based bitumen

PUNE: Praj Industries, India’s leading industrial biotech company has announced the inauguration of the country’s first sustainable road made using lignin-based biobitumen. Inaugurated by the Hon. Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Gadkari, this road is at the Nagpur-Mansar Bypass project, NH 44. This eco-friendly technology can partially replace fossil-derived bitumen and is being used to create the country’s first national highway.

Praj’s proprietary technology refines crude lignin into Lignin Bio-Bitumen and has the potential to replace fossil-based bitumen and offer sustainable solutions to the road infrastructure industry. This green construction material, with a blending capacity of up to 15%, offers significant benefits, including a 70% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to fossil-based bitumen. India would require ~15 lakh tons of bio-bitumen to achieve 15% blending with conventional bitumen. Through this investment, India can save ₹4000-4,500 crore on foreign exchange, marking a transformative step toward sustainable and eco-friendly road infrastructure.

Commenting on this development, Shri. Nitin Gadkari, Hon. Minister of Road Transport and Highways, congratulated Praj on the successful development of this technology saying, “The biobitumen used in this project, developed by Praj Industries in collaboration with CSIR-CRRI, is a significant step toward sustainability. It reduces our dependency on imported bitumen and provides an innovative solution by turning agricultural waste into a valuable resource.” He also expressed that in the future, our farmers will not only be food providers but also energy providers, producing biohydrogen and contributing to a cleaner and greener India.

In a collaborative project with CSIR- Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), Praj tested the lignin-based bio-bitumen sample for application studies, successfully replacing up to 15% of bitumen. Praj laid a service road in Halol, Gujarat using Lignin Bio Bitumen as one of the components. After 2.5 years and 3 monsoon seasons, CSIR-CRRI conducted the performance evaluation, and the results were found satisfactory with no signs of distress on the road. This success was one of the key factors in building the Nagpur-Mansar project.

Talking about this milestone, Dr. Pramod Chaudhari, Founder Chairman, Praj Industries said, “The inauguration of India’s first sustainable road using a lignin-based bio-bitumen is a proud moment for Praj Industries and a testament to India’s commitment towards a greener and self-reliant future. This innovative lignin-based bio-bitumen, developed under the ‘Make in India’ initiative, not only replaces fossil-based bitumen but also helps save significant foreign exchange, strengthening our nation’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. We deeply thank the Hon. Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Gadkari, for his visionary leadership and unwavering support in fostering sustainable infrastructure development. As we look toward the goal of Viksit Bharat 2047, we are also advancing our efforts in bio-hydrogen development, which holds immense potential to transform India’s energy landscape and contribute to a sustainable future. At Praj, we remain dedicated to pioneering eco-friendly solutions contributing to nation-building and global climate goals.”

Bitumen, a black viscous mixture of hydrocarbons produced by fractionation of crude oil, serves as a crucial binder in road construction. However, the rapid consumption and future demand of this product require a sustainable solution to attain the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047. According to oil ministry data, India’s bitumen consumption in 2023-24 was 88 lakh tons and is expected to rise to 100 lakh tons in 2024-25. 50% of this bitumen is imported, incurring an annual import cost of ₹25,000-30,000 crore for the country.

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Praj’s Strategy for Achieving 3 Times Revenue by 2030

News Desk — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 07:24:03 +0000

PUNE: Praj Industries is eying opportunities in multiple sectors including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), biopolymers, and the energy transition & climate actions (ETCA), and is expecting to triple its revenues by 2030. During a Press Conference held in the city, Dr. Pramod Chaudhari along with his team comprising Atul Mulay, President, of Bioenergy Business and Ghanshyam Deshpande, President of Technology interacted with the media about the possible opportunities and Praj’s preparedness to grab the same.

Speaking on the occasion Dr Pramod Chaudhari said, “The energy transition & climate actions (ETCA) sector which has a global potential and contains segments like blue and green hydrogen, green ammonia, and west to energy solutions is expected to drive the growth. Globally, the energy majors are likely to invest close to INR 25 Lakh Crore in the clean energy sector by 2030, whereas the traditional oil and gas market will continue to attract new investments to the tune of 21 Lakh Crore in the next 10 years time on the global front.”

“This will lead to a significant demand for modularization solutions for setting up plants in the above-mentioned sectors. To cater to this demand, Praj has developed strong engineering capabilities in modularization and has set up a dedicated advanced manufacturing facility at Mangalore in Karnataka with an investment of about INR 400 Cr. Spread across 123 acres of land, this plant can deliver revenues in the range of INR 2000-2500 Cr annually at the optimum level”, Dr. Chaudhari added.

“The CORSIA agreement for the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) has opened a door to new opportunities for Praj as India has set the target of blending 1% by 2027 and 2% by 2028. Whereas, the EU and USA have kept the SAF blending target of 6% and 10% respectively. India’s first commercial passenger flight powered by indigenously produced SAF from sugarcane molasses successfully flew from Pune to New Delhi. Air Asia, Praj, and Indian Oil came together for this successful attempt”, informed Ghanshyam Deshpande.

Atul Mulay said, “The current revenues of Praj are close to INR 3400 Cr annually, and we have a goal to reach INR 10,000 Cr by the year 2030. Currently, the share of exports is around 29%; going forward, we are looking at increasing it to 50% by 2030.”

Updates from the Praj’s community project to make Mandede Village a Net zero and a climate-resilient Village

Praj Industries Limited with support from the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE) has undertaken a special project to make the Mandede village near Paud a model Net Zero and a climate-resilient village. The initiative aims to work in areas like water, energy, waste, livelihood, and social. It has a range of interventions enhancing efficiency, bringing better governance, and increasing sustainability in each area.

While sharing the updates of this flagship project, Atul Mulay informed that the initiative started about a year and a half ago and a lot of changes have taken place in the village. Some of the significant ones include the installation of clean cookstoves in 50% of households. This has resulted in a 50% reduction in fuel wood usage and an equivalent reduction in emissions.

Energy:
Secondly, as a part of a pilot project to reduce scope 2 emissions from electricity usage, solar panels are fitted in more than 10% of households. On the successful completion of the pilot, the project shall be scaled up. A lot of enthusiasm has been witnessed from villagers for solar panel installation.

Water:
On the water resources management front, the desiltation of three chain bunds has been completed. It has resulted in water availability till the end of the summer. It has helped in the recharge of groundwater and increasing levels of dug wells & bore wells downstream. A detailed study to quantify the impact is in progress. The technical hydro-geological study has been done and the watershed management initiative will begin this winter as the mapping of water resources is complete.

Waste Management and Reuse of Wastewater:
On the waste treatment front Eco-STP, a nature-based solution to naturally treat the grey water is established in main Wadi. This will treat the entire wastewater of the wadi with no energy input. This is also being implemented in the other locations of the village soon. The process of treating household-level organic waste at the households only has been started and facilities like composters are being made available for the same. The plastic and other waste are being deposited into the central bins provided at multiple locations in the village and is being taken care of through authorized recyclers.

Many more initiatives are in the pipeline to make this village a net zero climate-resilient one.

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Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri inaugurates Praj’s SAF Demo Facility

News Desk — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 09:08:37 +0000

PUNE: Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri inaugurated Praj’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) demonstration facility at its R&D Center in the city recently. Praj has developed a proprietary technology to process agricultural feedstocks to produce SAF that can be blended with Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF).

Dignitaries like Dr Pramod Chaudhari; Executive Chairman of Praj Industries, Shishir Joshipura; CEO & Managing Director of Praj, Ghanshyam Deshpande; President of Center of Excellence & Allied Technologies, Dr Pramod Kumbhar, Chief Technology Officer & President, of Praj Matrix and others were present on the occasion.

During the inauguration ceremony, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Housing & Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri said, “This facility demonstrating indigenously developed technology for production of SAF is a testament to India’s rising prowess in the Global Bioeconomy. Utilization of Captive Agri-Resources to produce Biofuels such as SAF is aligned with the Government’s goals towards ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ and will go a long way in helping India achieve its energy self-reliance by 2047. I compliment the visionary leadership of Dr. Pramod Chaudhari and Team Praj for this exciting development.”

Speaking on the occasion Dr. Pramod Chaudhari said, “Inauguration of SAF demonstration facility is yet another milestone in Praj’s pursuit of energy transition through Bioeconomy. Recently, we collaborated with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL) and Air Asia India to successfully fly India’s first commercial passenger flight with 1% SAF produced at our bench scale setup that was blended with ATF. We truly believe in India’s potential to be a hub for supplying SAF for the Global Aviation Industry and we stand committed to helping build SAF production capacities. We thank Minister Hardeep Singh Puri for his continued guidance and encouragement.”

The hard-to-abate Aviation Industry is one of the largest consumers of fossil fuels and an emitter of Greenhouse Gases (GHG). According to the India Brand Equity Foundation 2023 report, the Government has set a target to operationalize 1,000 UDAN routes and to revive 100 airports by 2024. Thus, India is the third-largest and fastest-growing civil aviation market in the world. The low-carbon SAF has a significant role in helping India achieve its net zero goal targets by 2070.

It may be noted that around 3% of all GHG emissions worldwide are currently attributable to aviation. Unless controlled, otherwise the emissions may zoom to as much as 22% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has pledged to achieve net-zero emissions from the aviation sector by 2050. Harnessing Sustainable Aviation Fuels is regarded as the most promising pathway for helping achieve this target.

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