The President of the All-India Distillers’ Association (AIDA), Vijendra Singh, said at a press meet in New Delhi that the Association and the ethanol industry’s main aim is to increase petrol blending beyond the current E20 standard. He highlighted that ethanol producers are dealing with an issue of surplus ethanol production.
To tackle this problem, Singh suggested that blending ethanol with diesel could effectively help reduce the excess ethanol produced in the country.
He said that the government should consider raising ethanol blending with petrol from 20% to 25%. Furthermore, he mentioned that promoting flex-fuel vehicles would assist in managing the current oversupply.
Singh indicated that clear guidance on these two points would enable better utilisation of investments already made by industry stakeholders.
He informed reporters that there are currently 380 distilleries across the country, both sugar and grain-based, dedicated to ethanol production. Additionally, plans are underway to set up a further 33 distilleries in the near future.
