This is believed to be the first transition loan to be provided by a foreign bank to India’s biofuel manufacturing industry
To support India’s push to double the country’s ethanol distillation capacity and blend 20 per cent of ethanol in petrol by 2025, Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd (SRSL), a subsidiary of Wilmar International Ltd, Singapore and one of the largest sugar and green energy (ethanol and renewable power) producers in India, has obtained a five-year Rs 1.75 billion (SGD31 million) transition finance facility from DBS. The proceeds will be used to finance the expansion of SRSL’s sustainable bioethanol business in India. This is believed to be the first transition loan to be provided by a foreign bank to India’s biofuel manufacturing industry.
SRSL’s focus on the capacity expansion of its bioethanol plants in India supports its commitment towards promoting sustainable growth and combating climate change.
Sunil Ranka, CFO, SRSL, said, “Bioethanol production is not new to India. But it holds the key for the transition of the energy sector’s reliance on fossil fuels, to more sustainable biofuels which have a lower carbon footprint and will lead to energy independence of the country. To provide some perspective, India has an ethanol production capacity of about 849 crore litres today. For India’s targeted 20 per cent blending of ethanol in petrol by 2025, the market will need 1,700-crore litre capacity (80 per cent plant efficiency), and this is where we hope to contribute to the growth of the global biofuel industry by ramping up our bioethanol production capacity to contribute to achieving this ambitious but meaningful target.”
