The All India Distilleries Association (AIDA) has welcomed the move by the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to give an additional incentive of Rs 5.79 per litre for ethanol sourced from the maize. The President of AIDA, Chandan Shirgaokar has said that it is an interim relief given to grain-based ethanol manufacturers which has come at the right time. The Association is grateful to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Ministry of Food & Public Distribution.
The grain-based distillery units have achieved approximately 100% growth in ethanol production in the last one year, through aggressive expansion and investments. “In 2018-19, grain-based distillery units supplied 9 cr litres of ethanol. In the current supply season, the total allocation from grain-based distilleries is 292 cr ltrs. We are hopeful that by 2025-26, grain-based distilleries will be able to supply approximately 500 cr litrs of ethanol with hand-holding and support of the Government” Shirgaokar said.
AIDA is proud to be part of the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s top-most national agenda of achieving 20% ethanol blending target. “The ethanol blending programme is an important national mission to substitute fossil fuel with indigenously produced Bio-fuel from sugarcane and foodgrains (DFG and maize). This will reduce national expenditure towards buying costly crude, also safeguard the environment from harmful vehicular emissions and give additional income source to farmers,” Shirgaokar concluded.
Lauding today’s decision of the OMCs, Abinash Verma, ethanol expert, ex-bureaucrat, former DG ISMA and now Promoter of grain-based ethanol plant said that finally, the OMCs have increased the ethanol price in turn with the market price of maize. It is a step in the right direction by the OMCs. “Maize is being encouraged strongly by the Government for ethanol to ensure farmers get the right price, as also ensure enough ethanol gets produced from alternate feedstock, other than sugarcane and molasses. Maize not only uses much less water than both rice and sugarcane but is also available across the country and also has lot of potential in terms of scope to increase yield per hectare of land”, Verma added.
