Upcoming Ethanol Plant Projects in India: 1,253 Leads

Projects India tracks 1,253 upcoming ethanol and distillery projects across the country as of September 2026 — 1,088 of them verified — with a combined recorded cost of roughly Rs 2.17 lakh crore. The pipeline is accelerating: 29 projects were added to our database in the last 90 days, against 22 in the 90 days before that. For EPC contractors, equipment vendors and B2B sales teams, the opportunity is as large as it has ever been in this sector.

Ethanol plant projects in India: at a glance

Largest upcoming ethanol plant projects in India

The table below covers the highest-value projects in our database, drawn from across greenfield and expansion categories. Three projects each carry an investment of Rs 1,000 crore or more and are still in early or planning stages, meaning procurement has not yet begun — exactly the window in which early outreach pays off.

The single standout entry is Kusum Smelters Private Limited's grain-based ethanol project in Mungeli, Chhattisgarh, at Rs 19,331 crore — by a wide margin the largest project in this segment that our records show. It remains under approvals, so the full EPC and equipment procurement cycle still lies ahead. Ankur Biochem Private Limited is notable for running two separate high-value projects simultaneously in Jamui, Bihar — one under approvals and one already under construction — making the promoter an active buyer right now. Gujarat is the only state to host three projects in this top-twelve list, signalling strong momentum there beyond the better-known Maharashtra corridor.

Where ethanol manufacturing plants are concentrated

The geographic spread of projects matters to any sales or tendering team planning coverage. As the chart below shows, Maharashtra leads the country by a wide margin, followed by Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.

Maharashtra's 344 projects reflect its deep sugarcane belt and the large number of cooperative distilleries expanding capacity. Karnataka's 179 projects are a mix of sugar-sector expansions in the northern districts and newer grain-based facilities. Uttar Pradesh, with 155 projects, is the heartland of grain-based ethanol given its wheat and rice surplus, and several large PSU-backed refineries are already in construction there. Madhya Pradesh, which attracts many searches on its own — see all distillery projects in MP — accounts for 77 projects, concentrated in its sugarcane and grain-rich central and eastern districts. Bihar, Odisha and Haryana together add another 135 projects, meaning the eastern and northern corridors deserve dedicated attention from vendors whose territory maps tend to under-weight them.

Project stages: what they mean for EPC and equipment suppliers

Knowing what stage a project is at tells you what kind of engagement is appropriate. As the chart below shows, the largest single cluster is under approvals, which represents latent demand that will convert to active procurement over the coming period.

The 607 projects under approvals are at the environmental clearance and regulatory consent stage. This is the right moment for consultants, project-management firms and technology licensors to make contact — civil and equipment contracts have not yet been awarded. The 256 projects with construction started are actively buying: civil contractors, fermentation technology suppliers, distillation column fabricators, cooling systems vendors and instrumentation firms are all in the market right now. The 138 projects that have received approvals but not yet broken ground are in detailed engineering and vendor-shortlisting — a narrow and high-value window. Projects on hold (142) should not be written off; hold status often reflects a financing or regulatory pause rather than cancellation, and re-engagement when conditions shift can pay off.

Recent additions: new ethanol projects entered in the last 90 days

Twenty-nine projects were added to our database in the last 90 days. The entries below are among those that matter most to suppliers looking for early leads in the distilleries and breweries project pipeline.

• Distillery Unit Project at Karnal, Haryana — Expansion | Karnal Cooperative Sugar Mills Limited | Rs 263 crore | Under Approvals
• Grain-Based Distillery Project at Patnagarh, Balangir, Odisha — New | Shreevash Agro India Private Limited | Rs 175 crore | Under Approvals
• Distillery Unit Project at Parasgad, Belgaum, Karnataka | Inamdar Sugars Limited | Rs 672 crore | Under Approvals
• Distillery Mfg Unit Project at Madri, Vijaypura, Karnataka — Expansion | Shri Balaji Sugars and Chemicals Private Limited | Rs 829 crore | Hold
• 2G Ethanol Biorefinery Project at Dhanaura, Uttar Pradesh | Spray Engineering Devices Limited | Rs 150 crore | Construction Started
• Distillery Unit Project at Hosur, Belagavi, Karnataka | Shri Sangam Sahakari Sakkare Karkhane Niyamit | Cost not yet recorded | Construction Started
• Molasses-Based Distillery Project at Bardoli, Surat, Gujarat — New | Shree Khedut Sahakari Khand Udyog Mandli Limited | Cost not yet recorded | Hold
• Winery Unit Project at Niphad, Nashik, Maharashtra — Expansion | Vintage Wines Private Limited | Rs 15 crore | Under Approvals

The Inamdar Sugars project in Belgaum at Rs 672 crore and the Shri Balaji Sugars expansion in Vijayapura at Rs 829 crore are both large Karnataka additions that had not been publicly tracked before this quarter. The 2G ethanol biorefinery in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh by Spray Engineering Devices Limited is already under construction, meaning it is an active procurement account today.

Most active promoters in the ethanol and distillery space

Volume of projects per promoter indicates how frequently a company comes back to the market and, therefore, how valuable a long-term supplier relationship with them can be. As the chart below shows, Globus Spirits Limited leads on project count across our database.

Globus Spirits Limited runs 16 projects with a combined recorded cost of about Rs 1,643 crore, making it the most frequent buyer in the segment. Varun Beverages Limited and Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar Limited each have seven projects. Bajaj Hindusthan's combined recorded cost of about Rs 4,456 crore means its average project is substantially larger than Globus Spirits', pointing to different product and service needs. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited's five projects carry a combined recorded cost of about Rs 2,250 crore — consistent with PSU-scale capital spending. Triveni Engineering and Industries Limited and Dhampur Sugar Mills Limited, both with seven projects each, are repeat buyers whose procurement teams already have established vendor panels that new entrants should seek to join.

What this means for suppliers and contractors

The distribution across stages creates a clear action map for anyone selling into this sector.

• Projects under approvals (607): The right buyers here are technology licensors, environmental and process consultants, DPR writers and legal firms handling land and clearance. Relationships built at this stage convert to equipment and civil orders later.
• Approvals received (138): Detailed engineering is under way. Vendors of fermentation systems, distillation columns, molecular sieves, heat exchangers and automation and control systems should be submitting pre-qualification documents and product specifications now.
• Construction started (256): Civil contractors, structural fabricators, piping contractors, cooling tower suppliers, boiler manufacturers and electrical panel vendors are actively needed. This is the highest-urgency cohort for anyone able to deliver within a tight window.
• Hold (142): Monitor these projects. A change in financing, feedstock policy or promoter circumstances can move a project from hold to active procurement quickly. Staying in contact with the promoter costs little and can create a first-mover advantage when the project revives.

Madhya Pradesh deserves a specific note for EPC firms: 77 projects in our records, a state with strong sugarcane and grain availability, and a government that has been consistent in supporting distillery expansions. Vendors without a presence there may be missing a significant share of the national pipeline. You can review the full distillery project list for Madhya Pradesh in our database.

How to track these projects

Static industry-report PDFs on ethanol plant projects in India cannot reflect what has changed this week. Projects India's projects intelligence database is updated continuously: the 29 additions in the last 90 days that appear in this article would not appear in any report published at the start of that period. Every project record includes promoter contact details, project stage, cost where available, and location — the information a sales team or tender-response team needs before making a call or writing a proposal.

Teams that also need to respond to formal procurement can use live government tenders alongside project tracking to cover both early-stage and tender-ready opportunities in the distillery and ethanol manufacturing segment. If you want to see how a project record looks before subscribing, a free sample project report is available. The full distilleries and breweries project list — all 1,253 upcoming projects — is searchable by state, stage, promoter and cost range.