Deficient rain in the major sugar-producing states of Karnataka, and Maharashtra is likely to impact sugar production, therefore government is taking measures to ensure sufficient sugar availability in the country.
As per report, to ensure enough sugar production, India plans to discourage using sugar for making ethanol. This is to ensure there’s an adequate supply of sugar in the local market. The government might tell mills not to use sugarcane juice and B-heavy molasses for making ethanol. They would only allow mills to use C-heavy molasses for ethanol production.
After evaluating the demand-supply scenario, the committee of ministers chose to prioritise sugar production for the current ethanol supply year.
The new guidelines for ESY 2023-24, starting from November 1, will be decided soon.
The current ethanol production capacity in India is 1,364 crore litres and is sufficient to meet the fuel blending targets, the Centre informed Rajya Sabha on Monday.
The Roadmap for Ethanol Blending in India 2020-25, prepared by an inter-ministerial committee, estimated an ethanol requirement of 1,016 crore litres to achieve 20 per cent blending targets in ESY 2025-26. In line with the roadmap, oil marketing companies have achieved 10 per cent ethanol blending during 2021-22 and 12 per cent during 2022-23.
