New Delhi, Aug 11 (IANS) Ethanol blending with petrol by public sector oil companies shot up to 19.93 per cent in July this year, taking the average for the ongoing ethanol supply year (ESY) 2024–25 to 19.05 per cent, the Parliament was informed on Monday.

The country’s target of blending 20 per cent ethanol with petrol has been advanced from 2030 earlier to Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2025-26 due to the rapid expansion, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Suresh Gopi, said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

The government has been promoting blending of ethanol in petrol under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme wherein Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) — Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum — sell ethanol blended with petrol.

In order to ensure availability of feedstock for ethanol production to achieve 20 per cent Ethanol blending target by the Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2025-26, the government has taken several steps which include expansion of feedstock for ethanol production, development of maize clusters around ethanol plants to increase the production of maize in catchment area of grain based distilleries.

The government has also approved allocation of 52 lakh metric tonne (LMT) of surplus Food Corporation of India (FCI) rice for ethanol production, each for the ESY 2024-25 (from November 1, 2024 to October 31, 2025) and ESY 2025-26 up to June 30, 2026, and diversion of 40 LMT of sugar for ethanol production allowed for the ESY 2024-25.

Further, to boost ethanol production as well as supply in the country, the government has introduced administered price mechanism for Ethanol procurement under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme, lowered GST rate to 5 per cent for Ethanol for EBP Programme, introduced various Ethanol Interest Subvention Schemes (EISS) during 2018-22 for ethanol production from molasses as well as grains, a dedicated subvention scheme for Cooperative Sugar Mills to convert existing sugarcane-based distilleries into multi-feedstock plants for ethanol production has been notified by the government, among other measures.

–IANS

sps/na