The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, will inaugurate the first corn-based ethanol plant in the coastal Andhra Pradesh at Gandepalli village in Kanchikacharla mandal of Krishna district on Tuesday. The Chief Minister will arrive at Kanchikacharla at 10.15 am and inaugurate the plant which was built at a cost of Rs 130 crore. The plant provides direct employment to 350 people and indirect employment to another 1,000 people. The value-added agro-processing unit will manufacture ethanol from coarse cereals, which is an additive to petrol. Thousands of farmers producting maize, jower and coarse millets will be benefited by selling their produce at remunerative price to the plant. The capacity of the plant is estimated to be 1.20 lakh kilolitres. The plant needs 300 tonnes of maize and other coarse millets per annum. The Sentini-bio-products plant will produce byproducts like carbondioxide for bottling of soft-drinks and other products used for making dry ice. The plant management is also providing farm consultancy and guidance to farmers for improving productivity and yield of coarse grains. The plant will also undertake relevant research and development work to introduce improved new varieties which can increase yield of maize and coarse grains at lower input costs. The central and state governments can increase revenue in the form of taxes while transport system will be improved in the region. The Chief Minister will address a Rytu Sadassu at the same venue. Arrangements have been made for the visit of the Chief Minister. He will leave for Hyderabad at 11.30 am.