Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that an ethanol plant would be established at Jeetpur Behri in Una district by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) on 30 acres of land with a cost of Rs. 500 crore. The Chief Minister was presiding over a meeting convened here late Monday evening to discuss various aspects of construction of the proposed ethanol plant.
Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the State Government was ready to invest 50 percent equity in the project and would extend full cooperation to the company for setting up this plant. The company assured to take the Chief Minister's proposal to the Board of Directors.
The Chief Minister also directed the district administration to start land acquisition for the approach road from Bhanjal within 10 days and to ensure that all obstacles in the construction of the plant would be removed. Sh. Sukhu said that the plant would provide employment and self employment opportunities to the local people and farmers from Kangra, Hamirpur, Bilaspur and neighbouring districts of Punjab would also benefit from the grain-based ethanol plant.
At the request of the company, the Chief Minister also directed the district administration to provide an additional 20 acres of land for the plant. MLA Chaitanya Sharma thanked the Chief Minister for the ethanol project in his assembly constituency and said that it would benefit the people of the Gagret area and also prove to be a boon to the transport industry.
Industries Minister, Harshwardhan Chauhan, MLAs Suresh Kumar, Inderdutt Lakhanpal, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Bharat Khera, Principal Secretary Industries, R.D. Nazeem, Director Industries, Rakesh Kumar Prajapati, OSD to the Chief Minister, Gopal Sharma, Additional Deputy Commissioner Una Mahendra Pal Gurjar and Executive Director HPCL Shridhar Gaur were also present in the meeting.