The country has successfully achieved an ethanol blending rate of 11.60% as of February end for the current Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) of 2023-24. As per information received, the sugar-based distilleries have contracted around 136 crore litres of ethanol, with an actual supply of 101 crore litres over the initial four months of the current ESY.
Breaking down these figures, contracted ethanol from Sugarcane Juice stands at about 45 crore litres, and the actual supply amounts to around 46 crore litres, recorded as of February 29, 2024. B Heavy molasses has contracted around 74 crore litres, of which approximately 51 crore litres have been supplied. Similarly, C Heavy molasses has committed 17 crore litres, with a supply of 3.6 crore litres reported at the end of February.
Shifting the focus to grain-based ethanol distilleries, the total contracted ethanol is 162 crore litres, while the actual supply is approximately 68 crore litres. Among these, Damaged Foodgrains (DFG) account for 87 crore litres in contracts, with a supply of around 37 crore litres. Maize-based ethanol contracts amount to 60 crore litres, and the supply stands at 31 crore litres. As for SFG, the contracted amount is 14 crore litres, but no ethanol supply has been recorded in the current season.
In summary, the collective contracted ethanol from both sugar-based and grain-based distilleries totals around 298 crore litres, out of which approximately 169 crore litres have been supplied by the end of February 2024.
