New Delhi: Sugar mills from India have contracted to supply 302.3 crore litres of ethanol to oil marketing companies (OMCs) this season. This is 70 per cent more than the 178 crore litres of ethanol supplied by the mills in the last season.
It will help the sugar mills to reduce sugar production by 20 lakh tonnes (lt) after diverting sugarcane juice and B-heavy molasses for ethanol production for the ongoing season.
According to the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), against the total LOI quantity of 325.93 crore litres, 302.53 crore litres have been contracted for and 117.72 Cr litres of ethanol have been supplied as on 19th April’ 2021. Out of the total supply so far, about 77% comprises of ethanol made from sugarcane juice /B-heavy molasses. The country, on an average, has achieved a blending percentage of 7.36%, while 11 major States like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh have achieved even higher blending percentage of up to 10 per cent.
