Ethanol contract volumes grow in India

Measures taken by the Indian government in 2018 to boost ethanol production in the country are already resulting in an increase in contracted supply volumes.

An update by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs from earlier in February shows that contracts for the supply of about 2,350 million litres (620.8 gal) of ethanol have already been finalised for the current ethanol year, which will end in November 2019. In the previous year, the amount of ethanol produced in India was 1,510 million litres, against a target of 3,140 million litres to meet demand under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme.

In 2018 India allowed sugar mills to produce ethanol directly from sugarcane juice or B-molasses. Previously, only C-molasses were used. It also set higher prices for the fuel and offered financial assistance to sugar mills interested in producing more ethanol. So far, loan requests for INR 61.39 billion (USD 859.5m/EUR 760m) have received in-principle approval.

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