Diversify cane output towards ethanol production for energy sector

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said that over-production of sugar is a problem for the economy and there is a need to diversify cane output towards ethanol production for the energy sector.

Addressing the felicitation programme of National Cogeneration Awards 2022 in Mumbai, Gadkari said that majority of our population depends on agriculture, our agricultural growth rate is 12%-13% only; the sugarcane industry and farmers are a growth engine for our industry. And the next move should be cogeneration to increase revenue from sugar, the minister said.

He further said that the industry should produce less sugar and produce more by-products, embracing the vision for futuristic technologies and using the power of leadership to convert knowledge into wealth.

Gadkari said that while our requirement was 280 lakh tonnes of sugar this year, the production was more than 360 lakh tonnes; this could be utilised due to the situation in Brazil. However, we need to divert production towards ethanol as its requirement is very high, the Minister pointed out. Last year’s capacity was 400 crore litres of ethanol; we have taken a lot of initiatives to increase ethanol production. Now is the time for the industry to plan demand for ethanol, using technologies such as power generators run by bioethanol, the minister said.

The minister also said that the government has decided to launch flex engines in India, and Bajaj, Hero and TVS are already making flex engines, many car manufacturers too have promised to launch their models on flex engines.