India is the World’s 3rd Largest Producer and Consumer of Ethanol

Recently, the Union Minister for Food and Public Distribution during the India Sugar & Bio Energy Conference said that India is now the world’s third-largest producer and consumer of ethanol.

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Key Highlights

• In the last decade, sugarcane cultivation increased by about 18% while sugarcane production has increased by 40%.
• India is the second largest producer of sugarcane next to Brazil.
• The use of ethanol-blended petrol has reduced greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).

 

Steps taken by the government to increase ethanol production.

• The Minimum Selling Price (MSP) of sugar was introduced in 2018 to protect the interests of farmers.
• Establishments of Bio-Refineries Plants: India is setting up multiple second-generation ethanol biorefineries to produce ethanol from agricultural waste.
• In 2022, IOCL launched Asia’s first 2G Ethanol Biorefinery plant in Panipat, Haryana.
• Tax reduction: The government has reduced the GST rate to 5% from 18% on ethanol meant for blending under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme.

 

About Ethanol

• Ethanol is a biofuel produced from various sources such as corn, rice, wheat, sugarcane, and biomass.
• It is also known as ethyl alcohol.
• Production Process:
  1. Fermentation of sugars by yeasts
  2. Petrochemical processes such as ethylene hydration.