Lucknow, July 11 (Representative) Minister of State for Excise (Independent Charge) Nitin Agarwal on Monday said Uttar Pradesh has emerged as a major place for ethanol production and under Ethanol Blending Program currently the state is supplying ethanol to oil depots in the state as well as to other states of the country. Addressing a press conference at Lok Bhawan, Agarwal said, “Last year 115 crore bulk liter ethanol was produced. The annual target of ethanol production this year is 140 crore bulk litre. In 100 days, 45 crore bulk liters of ethanol was to be produced against which 45.17 crore bulk liter ethanol was produced. Thus the target of 100.4 per cent has been met by ethanol production. He said more production of ethanol will make green fuel available for public use and the success of the ethanol blending program will ensure foreign exchange savings. “Due to this a contribution of around Rs 2,221.45 crore will be made in the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP),” he said.
The minister said under the direction and effective guidance of Chief Minister Yogi Aditya Nath, the excise department is determined to achieve the targets set for the implementation of the 100-day action plan. “Along with revenue generation, industrial development has an important role in the activities of the department. Continuous efforts are being made in order to make the departmental activities easy and efficient by adopting the philosophy of ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in setting up of new industries and simplifying the already complicated systems and rules in the excise department,” he said. He said a 100-day action plan was prepared by the excise department, under which the target of setting up three new distilleries was set. “In compliance with these three units, Radico Khaitan Limited Sitapur, Karimganj Biofuel Moradabad and Crystal Balaji Muzaffarnagar were given permission to set up distilleries,” he said.
Agarwal said that the setting up of these distilleries will lead to an investment of Rs 793.37 crore and create about 3,600 new employment opportunities. “In this, after the commencement of production, revenue of about Rs 6,070 crore will be received by the state government and Rs 25 crore will be received annually by the central government, of which 50 percent will be made available to the state government,” he said. He said that similarly the target was set to start production after completing the construction of three distilleries. “The construction work of the distillery has been completed by Shri Gang Distillery Hardoi, Aarti Distillery Kanpur Dehat and Dwarikesh Sugar Industries Bareilly. Investment of about Rs 605 crore is being made in these distilleries and direct employment opportunities are being provided to about 1,000 persons. Along with this, the state government will get about Rs 3,859 crore and the central government will get revenue of Rs 11 crore annually. Accordingly PD-2 licenses have been issued to the above three distilleries,” he said.
The minister said under the concept of fine dining in the state, an action plan has been prepared to open three new microbrewery resto-bars in 100 days, in which 100 per cent fulfillment of the target has been ensured. “The establishment of these microbreweries will provide an investment of Rs 3 crore and employment opportunities to 30 persons and about Rs 1.5 crore of revenue to the state government.” he said. Similarly, he said a target of issuing 10 restobar licenses was set during this period, against which 130 percent target has been achieved so far by granting licenses to 13 restobars. “Under the 100-day action plan, the settlement of all country liquor, foreign liquor, beer, bhang and model shops has been completed in the year 2022-23,” he said.
Agarwal said that to encourage wine production from fruits for the development of fruit growers in the state necessary amendments have been made in Vintinery Establishment Rules and it was approved by the cabinet. “For the first time in the state, the rules for the processing and bottling of alcohol of analytical category and high performance liquid chromatography category have also been promulgated,” he said. He said prohibition has already been declared in the area of Ramkot and Raiganj Ward Municipality area of Ayodhya district, Vrindavan area of Mathura district, one km from Ganga river in Varanasi district, Sangam area in Prayagraj district, Chitrakoot Dham, Deva Sharif in Barabanki and Deoband Municipality of Saharanpur. “According to the intention of the government, prohibition has also been declared in 22 wards of Mathura by notification dated May 31,” he said.