India lets oil firms procure extra ethanol from sugar mills, source says

Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar

24/04/2024 16:33

NEW DELHI, April 24 (Reuters) - India has agreed to
allow oil marketing companies to procure ethanol by diverting an
extra 800,000 metric tons of sugar for biofuel production, a
government source said on Wednesday.
    Concerns over sugar production due to below normal monsoon
rains between June and September had led the world's
second-largest to cap the amount that could be diverted for
ethanol in the current season to end-September at 1.7 million
metric tons.
    But as the supply situation has improved as a result of
unseasonal rainfall in Maharashtra and Karnataka, the government
has agreed to the diversion of an additional 800,000 tons of
sugar for ethanol production, said the senior industry official.
    "Many sugar mills produced B-heavy molasses in anticipation
of ethanol production. However, these stocks remain unused after
the government capped the diversion of sugar for ethanol. Mills
can now use stored B-heavy molasses for ethanol production,"
said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. 

 (Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj and Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by
Alexander Smith)
 ((rajendra.jadhav@thomsonreuters.com; +91-22-68414378 ; Reuters
Messaging: rajendra.jadhav.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))