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November 21, 2007
The
Tata Chemicals Limited
(TCL), a leading company in the Tata group of industries joined
hands with ICRISAT by
signing a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for entering the Sweet
Sorghum Ethanol Research Consortium (SSERC) on 17 November 2007.
Dr William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, and Mr Homi R
Khusrokhan, Managing Director of TCL, signed the MOA at
Hyderabad.
According to Dr William Dar, this partnership will go a long way
in enhancing the commercialization of sweet sorghum for
bioethanol production. Production of ethanol from sweet sorghum
as a biofuel can provide additional income to dryland farmers
and does not compromise their food security.
Through the ICRISAT Sweet Sorghum Ethanol Research Consortium
(SSERC) the Institute promotes the technology for producing the
biofuel through public-private partnership.
Tata Chemical Limited is today a leading manufacturer of
inorganic chemicals, fertilizers and food additives. The company
has an annual turnover of about US$ 1.5 billion and is part of
the US$ 28.8 billion Tata Group, India's foremost business
conglomerate. Recently TCL has entered biofuels production and
is setting up a plant in Nanded, Maharashtra, for manufacture of
bioethanol from sweet sorghum. Through the MOA, TCL can now
avail the sweet sorghum research outputs of ICRISAT. This
includes supply of seeds of sweet sorghum varieties and hybrids
along with technical know-how on sweet sorghum cultivation
aspects.
Mr. Khusrokhan said that he was very happy that TCL had joined
the consortium and was very impressed by the wonderful
developmental work done by ICRISAT all around the world.
It is envisaged that there is a huge global opportunity for all
partners to work together to benefit millions of farmers by
offering new market opportunities through this new venture.
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