Sugar mills on course to meet 12% ethanol blending target

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Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) received 233 crore liters of ethanol as of April 30 out of the 514 crore liters contracted for the ethanol supply year (ESY) 2022-23, which helped them boost blending to 11.65 per cent from 10 per cent for the year. same period last year. aim for Mix ethanol with gasoline It is 12 percent in the current ESY.

“like sugar Fracking is almost coming to an end and, with the exception of Tamil Nadu, distilleries will now produce ethanol from molasses, already stored for the off-season. The window for ethanol production from sugarcane juice has now ended, an industry official said, adding that this was an achievement amid a decline in sugar production. OMCs are said to have contracted to purchase 374 crore sugar-based distilleries and 140 crore grain mills.

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It is estimated that one ton of sugarcane yields about 70-75 liters of ethanol if processed directly from the juice while one ton of heavy molasses yields about 320 liters of biofuel. According to industry sources, sugar mills have contracted to supply 138 crore liters of ethanol made from them. sugarcane juice and 230 crore liters of heavy B molasses.

The government has changed the ethanol year from November to October for the 2023-24 season from December to November so far. As a transition period for the current year, it will run for 11 months from December to October, and 12 percent blending should be achieved by October 31.

Reduced sugar production 7%

while, sugar production in the country It is down 7 per cent at 317.91 thousand tons (litres) as of April 30 in the current sugar season (October 2022 – September 2023) from 341.63 liters a year earlier, mainly due to about 27 liters falling from Maharashtra, according to Indian Sugar Data Mills Association (ISMA). The Industrial Authority for Private Sugar Factories last month Reduced conversion of estimated sugar About 40 liters of ethanol from the previous estimate of 45 liters for the entire season.

Uttar Pradesh reported sugar production of 101.82 liters from 98.98 liters a year earlier, while Maharashtra’s production fell to 105.27 liters from 132.06 litres, and Karnataka’s production to 55 liters from 58.12 litres. Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh also reported a drop in production to 15.3 liters from 17.8 litres.

On the other hand, the production of Tamil Nadu increased to 10.90 liters from 8.38 litres, Bihar 6.30 liters from 4.57 litres, Punjab 6.65 liters from 5.96 litres, and Haryana 7.12 liters from 6.77 litres. ISMA data showed that the total number of mills in operation as of April 30 was 73, compared to 216 a year earlier.

However, the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Mills (NFCSF) estimated actual production for the current year at 320.30 liters between October 1, 2022, and April 30, 2023, down from 343.20 liters. The Cooperative Sector Sugar Industry Authority said production in UP has so far reached 101.9 liters at a recovery rate of 9.65 per cent (sugar made from sugar cane), Maharashtra 105.3 liters at 10 per cent and Karnataka at 55.5 liters at 10.10 per cent.

The recovery rate across India so far has been 9.87 percent against 10.07 percent last year, while the government’s Fair and Equivalent Price (FRP) for sugarcane is based on a recovery rate of 10.25 percent. According to NFCSF data, up to 3,244.33 liters of sugarcane had been crushed as of April 30, up from 3,409.62 liters last year.