Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said that the central government is seriously working towards increasing the use of ethanol in the transport sector. The government is targeting to take the ethanol economy, which is currently worth Rs 20,000 crore, to Rs 2 lakh crore.
According to a report, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the government is planning to introduce flex-fuel engine vehicles. He said that with the rollout of flex-fuel vehicles running on 100% bio-ethanol, the demand for ethanol will increase by 4 to 5 times immediately. Nitin Gadkari said that however, India started its program for blending ethanol with petrol in 2003. But, in 2007, a minimum mix of only 5 percent was made mandatory. He said that the government brought a fixed ethanol purchase price policy in December 2014.
The Union Minister said that since 2018 the government is fixing various prices for ethanol based on the feedstock used for the production of ethanol. Also, Nitin Gadkari said that this encouraged diversion of B-heavy molasses and sugarcane juice into ethanol production. He also suggested that excess sugar stock could be diverted towards ethanol production. However, diversion can take place by adding 15-20 percent sugar in B-heavy molasses.
Nitin Gadkari said that it will have many benefits. First, it will utilize the spare stock of about 45 to 60 lakh metric tonnes of sugar. It will improve the recovery of ethanol by 30 percent due to the better quality of raw material. He said that now the government has allowed the use of grains like maize, surplus rice, damaged cereals, Bajra, and Jowar for the production of ethanol.
