Response to last ethanol tender record-high, India on track to achieve 20% blending by 2030: Oil Secretary

• It has been made possible because the government has now allowed production of ethanol from maize, said Kapoor

• The last tender floated by OMCs for procurement of ethanol received bids for 320 crore litres against the requirement of 195 crore litres of ethanol

New Delhi: While admitting that India has so far been lagging behind in terms of achieving the ethanol blending target set out under the National Policy on Biofuels, Petroleum Secretary Tarun Kapoor exuded confidence that this will change as the government has now allowed the production of ethanol from a variety of sources, including maize, recently. He also said that the last tender floated by oil marketing companies (OMCs) for ethanol procurement has received a record-high response. Speaking to the media at an event organised by Indian Oil, Kapoor said, "Last year, we should have done 7 percent ethanol blending but we ended up at 5 percent. And this year, we have to undertake 8.5 percent ethanol blending. And now that the production of ethanol is set to increase, I think we are on track to achieve 20 percent blending by 2030."

Ethanol blending was slow because production was low: Secretary

The Secretary said that so far, the progress in ensuring ethanol blending was slow because the sources for ethanol production were limited. "Earlier, ethanol was coming only from C-heavy molasses from the sugar industry. Because the government didn't want to allow ethanol production from edible sugar, the production in the country remained low. In 2018, the government allowed procurement of ethanol from sugar syrup and B-heavy molasses. This year, the government has taken a major step and has allowed production of ethanol from surplus rice with FCI (Food Corporation of India) and also from maize. So, now ethanol can be produced from a variety of sources," said Kapoor.

'Ethanol procurement tender floated recently received record response'

The Secretary said that the last tender floated by oil marketing companies (OMCs) for procurement of ethanol got an overwhelming response as bids were received for 320 crore litres of ethanol. "For the tender which we floated just 15 days ago, we received bids for 320 crore litres of ethanol, which is a record. And it has happened because the government has allowed production of ethanol from so many sources," said Kapoor.

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The OMCs floated a tender for procurement of 195 crore litres of ethanol recently in November. This was the first ethanol procurement tender floated by the oil PSUs after the government allowed production of ethanol from maize. "Maize has been added as a new feedstock in this EOI-cum-quantity bidding. The Ex-Mill price of Ethanol produced from Maize has been fixed as Rs 51,550 per KL ( Rs. 51.55 per litre )," said the tender document.

National Policy on Biofuels

Introduced in the year 2009, the latest version of the National Policy on Biofuels was approved by the Union Cabinet in May 2018. The policy is aimed at taking forward the indicative target of achieving 20 percent blending of biofuels with fossil-based fuels by 2030. Through the policy, the government aims to increase the utilisation of biofuels in the energy and transportation sectors of the country by promoting the production of biofuels from domestic feedstock in the coming decade.

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