Lok Sabha Question No. 3608 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-15
Subject: HPCL Bio-Fuels Limited
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: Sukanta Majumdar, Khagen Murmu, Vinod Kumar Sonkar, Raja Amareshwara Naik

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 3608 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15 th  JULY, 2019

## HPCL Bio-Fuels Limited

3608. DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR: SHRI KHAGEN MURMU: SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR: SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK:

## isVªksfy;e vkSj izkd`frd xSl ea=h

Will the Minister of PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) through its subsidiary HPCL Biofuels Ltd. (HBL) operates Integrated Plants;
- (b) if so, whether the plants owe a huge amount as arrears to their customers during the current crushing season, if so, the details thereof along with the steps taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  to  pay  outstanding  dues  within  a stipulated time;
- (c) the details of production (sugar, ethanol and power) and profits made by HBL during the last three years, year-wise;
- (d) whether malpractices such as nepotism and black-marketing are reported in issuance of challans by the plant, if so, the details of review of functioning of the plants and remedial action taken thereon; and

(e) whether the plant is emitting smoke causing pollution and posing public health hazard, if so, the details thereof and the action taken thereon along with the steps taken by the Government to review functioning of the plant?

## ANSWER isVªksfy;e vkSj izkd`frd xSl ea=h

## ¼Jh /kesZUnz iz/kku½

## MINISTER OF PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

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(a): Hindustan  Petroleum  Corporation  Limited  (HPCL),  through  its  wholly owned subsidiary  HPCL  Biofuels  Limited  (HBL)  is  operating  two  integrated sugar, ethanol and cogeneration plants at Suguali and Lauriya, in East and West Champaran districts of Bihar.

- (b)    As  per  information  furnished  by  HBL,  there  is  no  outstanding  payment towards cane procured upto 2017-18 crushing season.
- (c) The details of production (sugar, ethanol and power) and profit/loss made by HBL during the last three years, as furnished by HBL, are as under :
- (d) HBL  has  reported  that  there  are  no  instances  of  nepotism  and  black marketing.    However,  malpractices  in  issuance  of  challan  as  well  as  cane procurement  from  outside  cane  command  area  were  reported  in  the  crushing season 2017-18.  Appropriate action is taken as per the procedure in respect of allegations/complaints received as well as established cases of malpractices/lapses.  HBL has taken measures to make cane procurement more transparent and robust which include :
- (i) Capturing  and  verifying  the  exhaustive  details  of  cane  plantation  by visiting the farmland through GPS enabled Hand Held Terminal Device.
- (ii)  Adoption of new technologies like implementing GPS tagging of vehicles used for cane procurement.
- (e) In HBL, bagasse based co-generation plant of 20 MW capacity is the only source  of  generation  of  smoke.    However,  it  is  fitted  with  Electro  Static Precipitator, a state of art pollution control device, to trap the urburnt fuel in the smoke.  Moreover, HBL has 72 meters high chimney for diluting and disposing of the smoke.

| Production   | FY 2016-17         | FY 2017-18         | FY 2018-19         |
|--------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|
| Sugar        | 55,333 MT          | 63,870 MT          | 68,124 MT          |
| Ethanol      | 10,082 KL          | 7,025 KL           | 8,558 KL           |
| Power        | 67,383KW           | 79,085KW           | 73,595KW           |
| Profit/Loss  | ₹ 3038 lakh (loss) | ₹ 7789 lakh (loss) | ₹ 6766 lakh (loss) |

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