Ethanol Blending with Petrol (EBP) would save foreign exchange of more than Rs. 30,000 crore on account of crude oil import bill and would reduce dependence on imported fossil fuel thereby would help in achieving the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat in petroleum sector, Sudhanshu Pandey, Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution, says.

The upcoming investment of about Rs. 41,000 crore in capacity addition/new distilleries will create new employment opportunities in rural areas and strengthen the agricultural economy, says Pandey.

Pandey said in the next sugar season FY 2021-22, about 35 LMT of sugar is estimated to be diverted and by 2025 about 60 LMT of sugar is targeted to be diverted to ethanol, which would solve the problem of excess sugarcane/sugar and would also help sugar mills in clearing cane price dues of farmers.

Pandey said that in the past 3 sugar seasons about Rs. 22,000 crore revenue was generated by sugar mills/distilleries from sale of ethanol to OMCs.

Pandey said that about 5 crore sugarcane farmers and their families and 5 lakh workers associated with sugar mills and other ancillary activities would be benefited with this intervention. Sugarcane farmers will get timely payment of sugarcane dues as the realization from sale of ethanol is much faster than sale of sugar.

Pandey said that as a result of various measures taken to address demand and supply side issues, it is likely that ethanol distillation capacities in the country would be more than doubled by 2025 and we would be able to achieve a 20% blending target. 

Pandey said that EBP will bring a positive impact on the country's economy too. He said that it would promote ethanol as a fuel which is indigenous, non-polluting and virtually inexhaustible and would improve the environment and the eco-system as use of E20 fuel reduces carbon monoxide emission by 30-50% and hydrocarbon by 20%.