Oil marketing companies favouring grain-based ethanol: Sugar mills

Move to curb ethanol's over-dependence on sugarcane, say OMCs

Sugar companies have alleged that India’s much talked about programme to blend 20 per cent ethanol with petrol by 2025 could be jeopardised by the ‘discriminatory’ attitude of oil marketing companies (OMCs) towards ethanol produced from sugarcane as against that produced from grains, in some recent purchase tenders.

However, senior officials at OMCs have said the balance is being shifted as the current supply of ethanol is heavily dependent on sugarcane.

“Currently, around 85 per cent of ethanol comes from sugarcane, while the rest comes predominantly from maize. There is an effort to bring more balance in the sources of ethanol supply