Wheat is produced in 120 countries and accounts for about 19 percent of the world’s calorie supplies. It is used primarily as flour for making bread, pastry, pasta and noodles etc. It is also used to feed livestock, with the feed used for accounting for about 17 percent of global wheat consumption. In addition the by-products from milling wheat into flour are used as feed. The annual global production of dry wheat is about 529 Tg. Asia (43%) and Europe (32%) are the primary production regions. India being the second larger producer of wheat after China and it can be considered as a promising substitute of corn for bioethanol. Secondly, a huge quantity of wheat is wasted every year due to mismanagement in the warehouses thus this waste wheat can also be utilised for bioethanol production.
Alcohol, also known by its chemical name ethanol, is a psychoactive drug that is the active ingredient in drinks such as beer, wine, and distilled spirits (hard liquor). It is one of the oldest and most common recreational substances, causing the characteristic effects of alcohol intoxication ("drunkenness"). Among other effects, alcohol produces a mood lift and euphoria, decreased anxiety, increased sociability, sedation, impairment of cognitive, memory, motor, and sensory function, and generalized depression of central nervous system function. Ethanol is a type of chemical compound known as an alcohol, and is the only type of alcohol that is found in alcoholic beverages or is commonly used for recreational purposes; other alcohols such as and isopropyl alcohol are toxic.
India is one of the largest producers of alcohol in the world and contributes to 65% of production and nearly 7% of imports into the region. The precise estimate of unrecorded alcohol production is not clearly known. India is the largest whisky market in the world. And there is increasing demand for imported whisky and wine. Economic affluence, urbanization, changing lifestyles and social mores are all persuading young people to take to drinking. Thus, due to demand it is best to invest in this project.
Few Indian major players are as under:
· Gujarat Ambuja Exports Ltd.
· Gujarat Ambuja Proteins Ltd.
· Pioneer Industries Ltd.
· S P Y Agro Inds. Ltd.
· Vidiani Agrotech Inds. Ltd.