Pune: The coronavirus which had first emerged in China’s Wuhan city in December last year and has now spread to across many countries in the world. After China, the major affected countries are Iran and Italy. This month, even India witnessed a few cases, which soon rose rapidly. The Indian government is trying all possible measures to low down the spread of the virus in the country. Maharashtra is the majorly hit state.
Following the Outbreak of the Coronavirus and increase in the use of hand sanitisers as a precautionary measure, the Maharashtra government will consider ethanol produced from sugar mills to manufacture sanitiser.
According to the media report, Amit Deshmukh, minister of medical education and culture said that he will look into the proposal actively.
The hand sanitisers have become short in supply and the central government has included sanitisers and masks under the Essential Commodities Act to avoid hoarding of these items. The items are being sold in the black market at a high rate.
Maharashtra has so far reported a maximum number of coronavirus cases in India and there is a rise in the sale of hand sanitisers to maintain hand hygiene to keep a check on the spread of the virus.
Sugar mills produce ethanol as by-product which is an active ingredient of hand sanitisers. The ethanol is sold to the oil marketing companies for blending with fuel. Sanitisers contain 70% ethanol and water as a major ingredient.
