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Grain and sugarcane to power India’s ethanol production boost to 9.90 billion liters by 2025
In a significant push toward energy self-sufficiency, India is gearing up to enhance its ethanol production to achieve a 20% blending rate in petrol by the Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2025, necessitating an annual production of approximately 9.90 billion liters. To meet this ambitious target, the country is set to optimize the use of both grain and sugarcane feedstocks.
The move comes as part of a dual strategy to ramp up ethanol output using grains and sugarcane, with annual ethanol production from grains expected to jump to around 6 billion liters by the next season, up from this season’s 3.80 billion liters. Sugarcane will complement this supply, as indicated by CRISIL Ratings, which has highlighted the substantial processing capacity available for ethanol production from sugarcane.
This strategic use of both feedstocks is poised to help manage the sugar inventories effectively, particularly in light of the high carry-over stocks anticipated at the end of the current season due to regulatory limits on ethanol production and sugar exports.
India’s drive to increase ethanol blending has been marked by a steady rise in the blending rate, which has increased by 200-300 basis points each season since ESY 2021. Despite last year’s erratic rainfall impacting sugarcane production, ethanol output from this route is expected to be around 2.50 billion liters for the season.
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