India is the second largest sugar economy in the world, crushing more than 300 million tonnes of cane per year in more than 500 sugar mills across the Indian subcontinent. One of the key by-products in sugar production in India is molasses – more than 6.4 million tonnes each year. Molasses is used in India for animal feeds and for ethanol production.
There are approximately 120 ethanol plants in India, most of which are co-located next to sugar mills.
Our offices in New Delhi support our strategic relationships with key customers in India. GBL’s initial opportunities in India are to retrofit existing ethanol facilities to produce renewable n-butanol, and to ‘bolt on’ biobutanol production facilities to existing ethanol plants or sugar mills. We believe the skills we develop in India will provide GBL with opportunities not just in India, but in North America, Brazil and Europe as well.