Learn bits
Economy, Geography
Mahesh

04/02/25 10:38 AM IST

Production of ethanol

In News
  • Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that India will achieve its target of 20% ethanol blending of petrol in the next two months, at least a year ahead of what was originally planned.
Ethanol
  • The 1,100 crore litres of fuel ethanol will come from sugar and high grade molasses, Food Corporation of India (FCI) rice, broken rice, and maize.
  • India’s ethanol distillery capacity has ramped up to 1,600 crore litres, driven by a range of government incentives and the promise of a stable, lucrative market. 
  • Sugar is expected to provide some 400 crore litres this ethanol year.
  • India had closing sugar stocks of around 80 lakh tonnes in October 2024.
  • The projected sugar production for next year is around 315 lakh tonnes out of which 40 lakh tonnes will go to fuel ethanol.
  • Ethanol for non-fuel uses will come from low grade molasses called C Heavy that don’t go into sugar production.
  • The government recently decided to reduce the price of FCI rice to distilleries from ₹28 to ₹22.5 per kg.
  • The government handout states that some 110 crore litres of ethanol will be produced from FCI rice this ethanol year.
  • This means almost 400 crore litres of fuel ethanol should come from maize.
  • For context, India was producing little or no ethanol from maize until 2020.
  • Besides pure-play grain-based distilleries coming up, some sugar distilleries have modified to dual-feed so in the off-season they can use other feedstock (maize) to produce ethanol. 
Production of Maize
  • India’s maize production is just about enough for traditional needs such as for the poultry sector, livestock feed, starch production and some 10% for human consumption.
  • As the government had imposed curbs on allowing sugar and high quality molasses for ethanol production, maize imports started ramping up in April 2024.
  • From April to June, approx. ₹100 crore worth of maize was imported while, for 2023-24, maize imports were approx. $33 million.
  • Ministry of Commerce figures show that a total of $188 million worth of maize was imported from April to November 2024.
  • The promise of a steady, lucrative ethanol market has meanwhile goaded many farmers to take to maize cultivation across India.
  • The major maize producing States are Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh.
  • For the 2024-25 ethanol year, maize output would be some 42 million tonnes out of which nine million can go towards producing the 350 to 400 crore litres of ethanol.
  • Since 2020-21. when ethanol production was almost all sugar-based, maize production had increased by nearly six million tonnes in three years, for potential ethanol use.
  • Maize is cultivated in 10% more area at a higher yield.
  • The long-term sustainability of fuel ethanol would depend on whether the switch to ethanol and stress on maize has a negative impact on production of other foodgrains.
  • 100 crore litres of fuel ethanol translates to ₹6,000 crore savings on oil imports and the money going into the internal economy including to farmers. For context, India’s yearly oil import bill is some ₹10.5 lakh crore.
Source- The Hindu

More Related Current Affairs View All

05 Mar

First-ever comprehensive survey of India’s river dolphins

'Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the results of the first-ever comprehensive population estimation of riverine dolphins – Gangetic and Indus dolphins – done in In

Read More

05 Mar

Arresting women at night

'The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court in Deepa versus S. Vijayalakshmi and Others ruled that the legal provision in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, which

Read More

05 Mar

Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023

'The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) looking to wrap up public consultations on the draft Rules for the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 by Mar

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps