Roadmap ready to reach 50 percent ethanol content in petrol by 2030

- Achieving the target would require a domestic supply of 30 billion liters of ethanol: saving $15 billion annually in foreign exchange.

MUMBAI: Despite the many challenges facing the program of blending ethanol in petrol, the country's sugar mills seem enthusiastic about the program and plan to increase the percentage of ethanol blending in petrol to 50 percent by 2030.

To achieve this target, the capacity of the country's distilleries will have to be increased and for this, an expenditure of Rs 50,000 crores may be incurred, according to a recent submission made by the industry to the government.

This roadmap has been prepared by the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA). Government sources said that this submission was made by ISMA before the NITI Aayog.

The government plans to take the percentage of ethanol in petrol to 20 percent by 2025, for which an expenditure of Rs 15,000 crore will have to be spent, said government sources.

In the submission made before the government, it was requested to launch e-100 flex fuel vehicles (FFV) in the country which can run on 10-100 percent ethanol mix petrol.

To achieve the target of 50 percent ethanol in petrol, 30 billion liters of ethanol will be required in the country, said government sources. Of this, 15 to 17 billion liters can be obtained from sugarcane-based molasses, while the rest will have to be obtained from grains like maize, rice and other sources.

Due to fifty percent mixing, the foreign exchange of the country can save 15 billion dollars annually. This will not only reduce the import of petrol but also increase the income of farmers by approximately 1.80 lakh crores.

Sources also said that after the proposed blending program is fully implemented, surplus sugar in the country can be diverted to ethanol production and India will not need to export sugar.