According to the report, in order to promote ethanol production from C Heavy molasses, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have announced an incentive of Rs 6.87 per litre. Now, the price of Ethanol from C Heavy Molasses will shift from Rs 49.41 to Rs 56.28 per litre.
OMCs have recently issued indicative revised allocation of sugarcane juice (SCJ) and B-heavy molasses (BHM) based ethanol.
According to the Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) order dated December 15, 2023, OMCs were asked to make revised allocations and placement of revised contracts for each distillery for the supply of sugarcane juice and B heavy molasses-based ethanol within a total diversion of 17 lakh tonnes (LMT) sugar.
In the month of October, 2023, the OMCs had issued a tender for 825 crore litres of ethanol for ESY 2023-24, allocating 265 crore litres from sugar-based feedstocks, including 135 crore litres from sugarcane juice/syrup and 130 crore litres from B-heavy molasses. According to the experts, around 157 crore litres have been reallocated, including around 42 crore litres from SCJ and 115 crore litres from BHM. (This translates to 10 LMT sugar diversion for BHM and around 7 LMT for SCJ).
Recently, Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Ms. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in a written reply in the Lok Sabha informed that as on 30-11-2023, the ethanol production capacity in the country is about 1380 crore litres out of which about 875 crore litres is molasses based and about 505 crore litres is grain based.
The Government of India has been implementing Ethanol Blended with Petrol (EBP) Programme throughout the country wherein Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) sell petrol blended with ethanol. Under EBP Programme, Government has fixed the target of 20% blending of ethanol with petrol by 2025.
Excellent reporting