MEERUT: There are 120 sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and the aggregate volume of ethanol production is 175 crore litres annually. On Monday, Oil Mill Companies (OMC) released the first list of the proposed allocation of 400 crore litres of ethanol for 2022-23 and UP’s contribution is 18% of the total allocation, which is the highest in the country, followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
In figures, UP will provide 71 crore litres of ethanol to OMCs as per the first list and the quantity will increase in the coming months.
As per Niti Aayog’s National Policy on biofuels, there is a target of a 20% blending percentage by 2025-26 and the requirement for ethanol will be 1,016 crore litres. At present, it is 10%.
The sugar industry has asked for financial support for increasing ethanol production capacity in the next three years. “A 20% blending is certainly an aggressive target for which we need to enhance the production capacity of our mills to churn out additional volumes of ethanol. If the government backs us financially, it is an achievable target,” said Deepak Guptara, secretary general of UPSMA.
As per the department of food and public distribution, union ministry of consumer affairs, sugar production in India has registered an annual growth of 5% since 2001-02, while the average consumption growth has increased only by 2.6%.
This has often resulted in the sugar stock glut in the market in the past, bringing down the sugar prices that result in the cane dues payment crisis leading to protests by the farmers, especially in Uttar Pradesh. Now with the ethanol blending programme in which it's blended with fuel, the crisis has been mitigated to some extent.
According to data provided by UP Sugar Mill Association (UPSMA), 91% of the cane dues of the 2021-22 crushing season have been paid, and only a few perpetual defaulter companies’ dues to farmers are pending.
