Maharashtra's Ethanol Production Faces Setback as Only 6 out of 210 Sugar Mills Operational

According to new estimates from cooperative and private millers, Maharashtra's contribution for the ethanol supply year (December 2022 to November 2023) will be 127 crore litres, well below the 132 crore litres objective.

Furthermore, they believe that the state would produce just about 105-106 lakh tonnes of sugar, as opposed to the previous forecast of 120-22 lakh tonnes. Previously, the Maharahtra Sugar Commissioner's office predicted production at 138 lakh tonnes in July-August 2022, bolstered by high weather and increasing cane acreage.

However, as of Sunday, just six mills were operational: one each in Pune, Solapur, Osmanabad, and Beed, and two in Jalna. Mills in the state have crushed 1,051.30 million tonnes of cane and produced 104.88 million tonnes of sugar thus far.

Last week, at a conference presided over by the secretaries of food and public distribution, as well as petroleum, the industry expressed its inability to fulfil ethanol contracts for the final two-quarters of the Ethanol Supply Year 2022-23.

The Maharashtra State Cooperative Sugar Factories Federation's managing director, Sanjay Khatal, indicated that there will be a shortfall in ethanol production.

Aditya Jhunjhunwala, president of the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), expressed hope that the aim of 12% ethanol blending for gasoline this year will be attained, despite the fact that several sugar millers have set up grain-based distillers.