India has achieved the goal of supplying petrol mixed with 10 per cent ethanol, a process also called E 10 Blending 10 per cent ethanol with 90 per cent petrol in June, a process that many experts say was ahead of the original schedule of November 2022. Aditya Jhunjhunwala, the President of Indian Sugar Mills Association ISMA, told Business Today that the government needs to come up with a proper roadmap to achieve the target of E 20.
We need to have a roadmap for E 20 by 2025, we need to have a roadmap for this, we can't do things overnight, that is what we asked the government to have a clear thought for all the three years, then consumption has to come. Jhunjhunwala said something.
He said that there had to be discussion with all stakeholders, and I am not saying it is not achievable, but the plan has to be there, he added.
The head of ISMA, speaking about the production and consumption outlook of sugar, said that sugar production would be over 400 lakh tons in the country. He said 45 lakh tonne of sugar are expected to be diverted for ethanol in 2022 -- 23 as opposed to 34 lakh tonne in the current marketing year.
The consumption is moving little bit but not at a very high pace, which is what we have assumed, the total production of sugar would be over 400 lakh tonnes. The consumption would be around 275 lakh tonnes, as far as ethanol blending is concerned, we are looking for more diversion of sugar for ethanol, Jhunjhunwala said.
The Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme EBP aims to reduce pollution, conserve foreign exchange and increase value addition in the sugar industry and clear cane price arrears of farmers by blending ethanol with motor sprit.
He said that the industry is looking for some help from the government and that the policy needs to be clarified so that people can get into contracts because the sugar season is going to start in 10 days and there is no clarity. MSP Jhunjhunwala said that the industry body has been asking the government to increase the MSP, because of the thorny issue of minimum support price. On the other hand, there is FRP, or Fair and Remunerative Price, which is the price required by sugar mills and factories to sugarcane farmers. Jhunjhunwala explained the need to increase MSP in accordance with the FRP, while talking about the connection between the two.
The policy that MSP is linked to FRP was that once the raw material price goes up, the MSP has to go up. FRP has gone up over the last three years, but there is no increase in the MSP. My cane cost went up, my other costs have gone up but MSP has not increased, he said.