Krishak Bharati Cooperative Ltd (KRIBHCO), a fertilizer cooperative, is investing Rs 1,100 crore to build three ethanol production facilities.

The three plants are being set up at Hazira in Gujarat, Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, and Jagtial in Telangana, with a capacity of 250 kilo litre per day. The cooperative is using maize and broken rice as feedstock for the project.

The cooperative will provide ethanol to oil marketing companies (OMCs) for blending with fuel. The goal is to increase the ethanol blend with petrol from 12% today to 20% by 2025, said Rajan Chowdhry, Managing Director, KRIBHCO.

KRIBHCO has formed a 100% owned Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) called KRIBHCO Green Energy Private Limited to develop the plants. The plants are expected to be operational by end of the next year.