Spray Engineering Devices Limited (SED) has received approval for ₹150 crore in financial assistance under the Indian government’s Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN Yojana to develop a 91 kilolitres per day (KLPD) second-generation (2G) ethanol biorefinery at Wave Sugar in Dhanaura, Uttar Pradesh.
The project, supported through the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) and the Centre for High Technology (CHT), is designed to convert agricultural residues into ethanol using an integrated process that combines biomass gasification with biological gas fermentation.
SED plans to integrate LanzaTech’s gas fermentation platform with Ankur Scientific Energy Technologies’ oxygen-enriched biomass gasification technology. The company says the project will provide a route to commercial-scale production of advanced ethanol while creating potential pathways for green chemicals, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) intermediates and other renewable products.
The planned facility adds to India’s efforts to expand the use of non-food biomass in fuel production. The project remains a development initiative; the announced financial assistance and proposed production capacity do not indicate that commercial operations have begun.
Biomass Gasification and Gas Fermentation at the Core
The proposed biorefinery will combine two processes to convert agricultural residues into fuel.
First, biomass gasification will convert prepared feedstock into synthesis gas, or syngas, a gas mixture that can contain carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Ankur Scientific’s oxygen-enriched gasification technology is intended to produce this intermediate stream.
LanzaTech’s gas fermentation platform will then use the biomass-derived gas to produce ethanol through a biological conversion process. The integrated configuration is intended to connect the thermochemical and biological stages within a single production system.
The approach differs from conventional first-generation ethanol production, which typically uses sugar- or starch-based feedstocks. By targeting agricultural residues, 2G ethanol technology can expand the range of biomass resources available for fuel production without relying directly on food crops as the primary feedstock.
Actual performance will depend on factors such as feedstock availability and consistency, gas quality, conversion efficiency, energy consumption and the economics of operating the integrated plant.
SED, LanzaTech and Ankur Scientific Combine Technologies
The project brings together SED’s engineering experience in the sugar and process industries, LanzaTech’s gas fermentation technology and Ankur Scientific’s biomass gasification systems.
The collaboration is intended to combine the technologies needed to convert biomass into syngas and subsequently into ethanol. SED is positioning the facility as part of its expansion into advanced biofuels and integrated biorefinery development.
Vivek Verma, managing director of SED, said the project reflects a broader opportunity for the sugar industry to develop beyond sugar and conventional ethanol by converting agricultural residues into clean fuels and higher-value chemical products.
Sukhraj Soni, SED’s director of biofuels and green chemicals, said the 91 KLPD facility would demonstrate an integrated platform combining thermochemical gasification with biological gas fermentation. He also described the project as a potential model for future biorefineries producing multiple renewable products from biomass.
PM JI-VAN Supports Commercialisation of 2G Ethanol
The Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN (Jaiv Indhan–Vatavaran Anukool fasal awashesh Nivaran) Yojana was established to support integrated bioethanol projects using lignocellulosic biomass and other renewable feedstocks. The scheme is designed to help improve the commercial viability of advanced ethanol technologies and encourage their deployment in India.
Under the scheme’s published provisions, financial assistance of up to ₹150 crore per commercial project has been prescribed. The support for SED’s proposed facility is therefore aligned with the programme’s objective of helping advance commercial-scale 2G ethanol projects.
India’s ethanol programme has largely expanded through first-generation feedstocks such as sugarcane derivatives and grains. Second-generation facilities offer a complementary pathway by targeting agricultural residues and other non-food biomass, potentially diversifying feedstock sources for the fuel sector.
However, commercial-scale 2G ethanol projects must demonstrate reliable operation and competitive production costs. Feedstock collection, transport, preparation and conversion can all influence the economics of a plant, while competing uses for agricultural residues may affect availability.
Future Pathways for Green Chemicals and SAF Intermediates
Beyond ethanol, SED identifies future opportunities to produce green chemicals, SAF intermediates and other renewable molecules from the integrated platform.
These applications are prospective rather than confirmed outputs from the proposed facility. Producing additional products would depend on the plant’s final configuration, downstream processing technologies, product specifications and market demand.
For the wider bioenergy sector, integrating fuel production with higher-value chemical pathways could offer options to diversify revenues from biomass resources. Whether those opportunities become commercially viable will depend on technology performance, investment requirements and the ability to secure customers for each product stream.
Bioenergy Business Analysis
SED’s proposed Dhanaura facility highlights an alternative route for scaling India’s 2G ethanol industry: combining gasification and fermentation rather than relying solely on established sugar- or starch-based processes.
The project’s significance will depend on whether the integrated technology can operate consistently at the planned capacity while keeping feedstock and conversion costs competitive. Access to agricultural residues is only one part of the equation; the plant must also achieve dependable syngas quality, efficient biological conversion and commercially viable overall yields.
The ₹150 crore support under PM JI-VAN could help advance the project toward implementation, while the involvement of specialist technology providers brings complementary expertise to the proposed process. The next indicators to watch are project execution, commissioning, operating performance and verified ethanol output.
For India’s advanced biofuel sector, the project is a further test of whether agricultural residues can be converted into fuels through privately developed, integrated biorefineries at commercial scale. Its eventual contribution will be measured by actual production, feedstock utilisation, operational reliability and the economics of the resulting products.
