Nearly 17 mn tonnes of surplus foodgrains to be used for ethanol making
The government on Friday said around 17 million tonnes of surplus foodgrains will be utilised, apart from sugarcane molasses, for manufacturing ethanol to achieve the target of 20 per cent blending with petrol by 2025.
Addressing a webinar organised by sugar industry body ISMA, Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said the government is encouraging ethanol production not only from molasses but also from foodgrains like maize and rice to achieve the blending targets.
He said the country has been producing surplus sugar production of about 4-4.5 million tonnes for the last few years, with the production of over 30 million tonnes and domestic demand of around 26 million tonnes.
