India allows ethanol production from sugar cane syrup

India has authorized sugar mills to use cane juice for ethanol production in the new marketing year, which begins on November 1, Reuters reports.

Earlier in December 2023, the country, which is the world’s second-largest sugar producer, imposed restrictions on sugar-to-ethanol processing to boost sugar production after the cane crop suffered from poor monsoon rainfall.

Now, in the new season, distilleries will also be able to use molasses from the second product, which contains more sucrose, to produce ethanol. Currently, about 750 thousand tons of this molasses is in the warehouses of the plants, as ethanol production from this raw material was limited last year.

These policy changes will not only help to increase the share of ethanol in gasoline to 20% by 2025/26 MY (from the current 13%), but also make it easier for sugar mills to make timely payments for cane to millions of farmers.

Tags: sugar, India, ethanol