Team Blitz India
AN agriculture trade mission from the United States has recommended that India should explore the option of importing ethanol and corn to meet its ethanol blending targets by 2025.
“We believe that there’s a great opportunity to support India’s advancement in increasing ethanol production,” said Alexis Taylor, the United States Undersecretary for the Department of Agriculture. She is leading the trade mission to New Delhi. Taylor has met with officials from various ministries, including agriculture, external affairs, and commerce & industry. India has set a goal to achieve 20% ethanol blended petrol (E20) by 2025. This will also help in bringing down dependency on fossil fuel and in turn address high import cost.
However, a recent decrease in sugarcane production prompted the Government to prohibit the use of cane juice and B-heavy molasses for ethanol production starting from December. Following this decision, the Government imposed a restriction on diverting 17 lakh tonnes of sugar for ethanol production for the supply year 2023-24 (November-October).
Recently, sugar mills were permitted to utilise 6.7 lakh tonnes of B-heavy molasses as feedstock for ethanol production in the current year. Since, Indian ethanol industry, still at its nascent stage, is largely dependent on sugarcane for fuel production, the Government restrictions pose serious challenges. Meanwhile, Indian Government is advocating for the use of maize as an alternative to sugar to boost ethanol production and ensure an adequate supply of sweeteners in the market.
The US trade mission has recommended India to follow the US model. Notably, the US is one of the leading producers and consumers of ethanol globally, despite its role as a substantial importer. Taylor suggested that importing ethanol and corn for livestock feed could assist India in attracting investments for ethanol production. Such actions combined with invent incentives could lay the foundation for a maize-based ethanol production in India.
BLURB: India has set a goal to achieve 20% ethanol blended petrol (E20) by 2025. This will also help in bringing down dependency on fossil fuel and in turn address high import cost
