Hyderabad: Locals oppose proposed ethanol plant at Mominpet
By U Sudhakar Reddy
A proposed 60 KLPD grain-based distillery (ethanol) by Suvira Bio Fuels Private Limited at Mominpet in Vikarabad district has drawn opposition from locals. The company’s executive summary of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report outlines the project’s capacity, land requirement and the process it must undergo for statutory clearance, including a public hearing on Dec 30 at Mominpet.
The EIA/EMP executive summary report says the project is a grain-based distillery unit proposed on 10.33 acres in Mominpet village and mandal of Vikarabad district, Telangana. It notes that the Terms of Reference (ToR) were approved by the state-level Environment Impact Assessment Authority on Feb 23, 2025 and the EIA/EMP report was prepared based on the approved ToR and a pre-project baseline study conducted from March 2025-May 2025.
On occupational health and safety, the EIA says the company will implement safety features and is committed to ensuring more features in the proposed establishment. Accidents cannot be planned, it said, and describes risk assessment and a disaster management plan preparation. Total project cost is around Rs 99.58 crore, the document says.
Locals and activists have raised concerns about pollution and water issues. Progressive Organisation of Women (POW) state secretary Y Geetha demanded the proposed private ethanol plant at Mominpet be scrapped, warning it would make the area “unliveable.”
“If an ethanol plant is set up at Mominpet, we cannot live here anymore,” Geetha said calling on residents, people’s organisations representatives, political parties and environmental experts to attend the public hearing slated for Dec 30 at Mominpet and oppose the project.
Geetha alleged that the proposed ethanol factory would release toxic pollution and contaminate land, water and air in the region. She said hazardous gases and dangerous chemicals would pose serious risks to groundwater, agriculture and public health. Mominpet is an agriculture-dependent area and a polluting industry would damage farmlands and water resources, she said.
She specifically warned that toxic gases such as formaldehyde and methanol could lead to respiratory problems and serious diseases including cancer. Geetha claimed the factory would consume several lakh litres of water a day, depleting tanks and wells and leaving little water for irrigation which, she said, would result in crop losses and threaten farmers’ and agricultural labourers’ livelihoods.
This article has been republished from The Times of India.