”India will Achieve Target of 20% Ethanol-Blended Petrol by 2025” : Piyush Goyal

Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal expressed confidence that India would achieve its target of blending 20% of ethanol with petrol by 2025. The minister emphasized the importance of the maize crop in the implementation of this programme, adding that the blending of ethanol with petrol has increased to 10% in 2021-22 from just 1.53% in 2013-14.

Goyal urged the industry to set up factories for the production of green fuel that can operate on dual feedstock, sugarcane and food grains. He highlighted that the blending of ethanol with petrol has increased on the back of efforts made by farmers, industry, and favourable government policies.

"To achieve the target of 20% by 2025, about 1,016 crore litres of ethanol would be required. About 334 crore ethanol would be required for other usage. Therefore, there is a need to create a capacity of 1,700 crore litres, considering plant operates at 80% efficiency," said Goyal.

The minister stressed the need to boost ethanol production to meet this target and said the focus should be on making ethanol from maize crops. He noted that there is a limitation to increasing supply from sugarcane crops, and to achieve the target of 20%, maize will have a major role to play.

"If we have to jump from 10% blending to 20%, maize will have a major role to play... maize is better for making ethanol. It is an eco-friendly crop as it can be grown with less water," he said.

"There is huge potential in maize. you should focus on dual feedstock (cane and grains) to produce ethanol,"  he suggested while also highlighting the importance of accelerating implementation to meet the 20% blending target.

Goyal said that the auto sector has accepted the realities of ethanol. According to him, efforts are being made to introduce ethanol pumps and flex fuel engines.

Sanjeev Chopra, the food secretary, had stated that the goal is to achieve 12% blending in 2022–2023, 15% blending in 2023–2024, and 20% blending in 2024–2025.

According to him, there is a 1,300 crore litre projected need for ethanol, of which 650 crore litres should come from sugarcane and the remaining from other sources like grains.

Chopra stated that maize-based ethanol production has to be promoted. He said that in addition to certain specific pricing incentives, the output of maize needed to be increased from 34 million tonnes to 42–43 million tonnes.

The additional secretary for the department of food and public distribution, Subodh Kumar Singh, stated that there is a need to boost maize production as well as the percentage of ethanol recovered from maize.

The agriculture ministry is working to increase productivity and production of maize crop, he added. The higher blending of ethanol with petrol will be beneficial for farmers, the environment, and India's overall economy.

News Conclusion

The Indian government has set an ambitious target of achieving a 20% blending of ethanol with petrol by 2025, and Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal has expressed confidence in achieving this target. The focus is now on boosting ethanol production from maize crops, as there are limitations to increasing supply from sugarcane crops.

The increased blending of ethanol with petrol is expected to benefit farmers, the environment, and the overall Indian economy, and has the potential to reduce India's crude oil import bill by Rs 50,000 crore.

The government is ready to support the industry in setting up factories for the production of ethanol, and there is huge potential in maize for this purpose. With the right incentives and increased productivity and production of maize, the country can achieve its ethanol blending targets and further contribute to the growth of the green energy sector.

Important News Tags and Headlines for Readers

Need to boost ethanol production

Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal

India aims for 20% ethanol-blended petrol by 2025

Maize to play important role in achieving target