Renuka Sugars aims to consolidate biofuel biz

New Delhi, July 29: In a move to consolidate its position in the biofuels space, Renuka Sugars Ltd has said it acquired KBK Chem-Engineering Pvt Ltd (KBK) for Rs 37 crore, bought the Dhanuka PetroChem ethanol plant and plans to increase its existing ethanol capacity from 450 KLPD to 900 KLPD.

KBK is an engineering company, primarily engaged in providing turnkey solutions in the field of distilleries, ethanol plants and bio-fuels and about 50 per cent of its revenues are from overseas projects, the company said in a statement.

Renuka Sugars Ltd has also acquired a stand alone of 100KLPD from Dhanuka PetroChem located at Khopoli, Maharashtra for a consideration of about six crore rupees.

The distillery, Renuka Sugars says, will help it in cutting down transportation costs for supply of its Ethanol contracts to the Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) located in coastal states of Goa, Karnataka and Kerala and for export purpose.

Renuka Sugars also plans to increase the capacity of this unit from 100 KLPD to 250 KLPD, in the near future to cater to the fuel ethanol market in Maharashtra and other states. To further boost its position in the fuel ethanol market, the company has embarked on an expansion plan to increase its existing ethanol capacity from 450 KLPD to 900 KLPD.

The company said it is also evaluating potential overseas acquisitions and/or investments in the biofuels space to take advantage of the fast growing global biofuels market.

For the nine months ended July 31, 2007, the company posted a total income of Rs 719 crore and net profit of Rs 70.20 crore, the statement said.

UNI