The Uttar Pradesh government has attracted private and cooperative sector-led investment of upwards of Rs 5,400 crore for 31 greenfield alcohol distillation plants across the state. The combined alcohol distillation capacity is 1.45 billion litres, and so far, commercial production has commenced at 18 of these plants with a total alcohol capacity of 968 million litres.

Further, the greenfield units will have the potential to create employment opportunities for 8,267 people. Investments worth Rs 3,530 crore have already been injected into the proposed projects.

The alcohol sector has linkage with the sugarcane and ethanol value chain as part of the agricultural road map, and is also used in a variety of industrial products, including liquor, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. The existing 38 distilleries in the state have also increased their installed capacity by 592 million litres during the last four years, even as the state has a consolidated alcohol production capacity of more than three billion litres annually.

The state government is also promoting the setting up of microbreweries for the hotel and travel sector, helped by the horticultural produce of crops, and will benefit farming and raise rural income, and give a fillip to the food processing industry.