Apprehending a shortfall in the supply of ethanol by sugar mills/distilleries during the current ethanol supply year (ESY) 2023-24, the oil marketing companies (OMCs) have suggested the use of C heavy molasses as feedstock.

The OMCs use ethanol for blending it with petrol.

The Central government, to ensure adequate sugar supply in the domestic market, has banned the use of sugarcane juice/syrup for producing ethanol by sugar mills/distillers during the current season 2023-24.

Sugar mills are reluctant to produce ethanol from C heavy molasses due to low yield and low price.

Ethanol is produced in three ways – B heavy molasses, C heavy molasses and directly from sugar juice/syrup. From one ton sugar juice, 80-81 litres of ethanol can be produced while 20-21 litres of ethanol can be produced from one ton of B heavy molasses and 10-11 litre from one ton C molasses.

The Central government, after banning the export of sugar, took the next step towards augmenting the availability of the sugar in the domestic market by restricting the diversion of the sweetener for the production of ethanol. On December 7, the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution directed all sugar mills and distillers not to use sugarcane juice/syrup for making ethanol with immediate effect.

The reason for the Centre banning the use of sugarcane juice for production of ethanol is simple. The 2022-23 sugar year ended with a stock of just 57 lakh metric tons of sugar, the lowest since the 39.4 lakh metric tons in 2016-17. The stock in 2018-19 was as high as 1.43 crore metric tons.

Ethanol is 99.9 per cent pure alcohol that can be blended with petrol. The ethanol blending programme has been a significant accomplishment of the Narendra Modi government. The all-India average blending of ethanol with petrol has risen from 1.6 per cent in 2013-14 to 12 per cent in 2022-23.

The ethanol blending programme has made a very significant impact on the finances of the sugar industry in Uttar Pradesh, enabling it to clear the payments of the farmers within 10-15 days of buying sugarcane.

Allaying fears, sources in the sugar industry said the OMCs were trying to shore up ethanol supplies from sugar mills from both B heavy molasses and C heavy molasses, to fill the gap in the ethanol supplies which was left dry after ethanol supplies from sugarcane juice/syrup were stopped.

They also feel that OMCs may put pressure on sugar mills to increase their commitment to ethanol supplies from C heavy molasses also, as there are reports that sugar mills in Karnataka and Maharashtra are exporting molasses instead of using it for ethanol production.

Of the total ethanol produced in the country, 25-30 per cent comes from cane juice, over 60-65 per cent from B heavy molasses while ethanol from C heavy molasses and grains accounts for the rest.

For the current ESY, the OMCs had floated tenders for the supply of 8.25 billion litres of ethanol from all sources to meet the 15 per cent blending target for the period.