Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), a central government public sector undertaking, is setting up a second-generation bio-ethanol plant that will use paddy straw as raw material in Nasibpur village of Bathinda district in Punjab. The project is scheduled to be completed by March 2026 and will use around 2 lakh tonnes of paddy straw every year once it begins full operations.
The details were shared by Neelima, Chief Executive Officer of the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA), in the January 2026 edition of the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) journal.
The plant is expected to significantly reduce the burning of paddy straw in Punjab, particularly in Bathinda district, both in the current season and in the coming years.
The facility is designed to convert paddy straw into ethanol, which will be blended with petrol under the central government’s ethanol blending programme. At full capacity, the plant will produce 100 kilolitres of ethanol per day and will require about 570 metric tonnes of paddy straw daily, amounting to nearly 2 lakh tonnes annually. About 1 lakh tonnes of biomass is expected to be procured in the current season for use as feedstock ahead of commissioning.
The progress of the project is being monitored by the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas.
PEDA is the state’s nodal agency for implementing policies related to new and renewable energy on behalf of the Punjab government. The agency is responsible for inviting and evaluating project proposals, managing the bidding process, approving projects, and overseeing their implementation and monitoring.
