The minister of state for petroleum and natural gas, Suresh Gopi, gave an update about the Ethanol blended petroleum (EBP) programme in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
He shared that in 2013-14, 380 million litres of ethanol blended with petrol was produced. It increased to 3,023 million litres in 2020-21, an increase of almost 7 times. The blending percentage also increased from 1.53 per cent to 8.17 per cent. Oil marketing companies (OMCs) accomplished 10 per cent ethanol blending five months ahead of schedule in June 2022. Blending percentage of ethanol with petrol was 12.06 per cent in 2022-23, with more than 5,000 million litres produced.
The government of India has decided to bring forward the target of 20 per cent ethanol in blending petrol to 2025-26. The initial target year was 2030. To achieve this, the government has formulated a roadmap for ethanol blending in India and taken various measures. These include expansion of feedstock for production of ethanol, remunerative price for procurement of ethanol under the EBP Programme, lowering of GST rate to 5 per cent on ethanol for EBP Programme, amendment in Industries (Development & Regulation) Act for free movement of ethanol across states, interest subvention scheme for enhancement and augmentation of ethanol production capacity, and regular floating of expression of interest (EoI) by public sector OMCs for procurement of ethanol.
Furthermore, the National Policy on Biofuels-2018 (amended in 2022) has identified various feedstocks for ethanol production, including heavy molasses, sugarcane juice, sugar, sugar syrup, biomass in form of grasses, agriculture residues, and sugar and starch containing food stuffs.
