Cooperative sugar sector discusses strategies to boost ethanol production
A meeting in Pune, chaired by Harshvardhan Patil of NFCSF, discussed boosting ethanol production in cooperative sugar mills. Key strategies include upgrading distilleries to multi-feed plants using maize for year-round production. Financial support, including interest subvention and NCDC financing, was offered. The goal is to enhance ethanol supply, improve financial viability, and meet the 20% blending target.
A high-level brainstorming session was held in Pune today to discuss measures to enhance ethanol production in the cooperative sector. The meeting, chaired by the President of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF), Harshvardhan Patil, brought together key stakeholders from across the country.
The meeting was attended by the Managing Directors of cooperative sugar factories across the country, Managing Directors of State Sugar Federations, the Managing Director of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories, the Director of the Union Ministry of Cooperation D. K. Verma, the Director of NCDC Girraj Agnihotri, the Sugar Commissioner of Maharashtra Dr Kunal Khemnar and other officials of the NFCSF.
To make the cooperative sugar industry self-reliant economically, Shri Amit Shah, Union Minister of Cooperation, suggested that Cooperative Sugar Mills should participate in 20% ethanol blending programme round the year. He suggested that this could be possible through ethanol production from maize during the period when the sugar season is over. He had requested NFCSF to hold consultation with CSMs and submit their findings after such consultation. In this regard, the NFCSF took the task on mission mode and submitted demands to the Union government.
On the persuasion of the NFCSF and support from the Ministry of Cooperation, it has been agreed to provide financial assistance to these mills in the form of interest subvention on their term loans. Besides, the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) has agreed to finance these projects on debt to Equity ratio of 90:10 and charge substantial at lower interest rates.
This is a kind of flagship programme undertaken at the instance of the Union government. “Today’s meeting held a detailed discussion on how to take advantage of it by upgrading the distilleries to multi-feed distilleries. This upgrade will enable them to use food grains, particularly maize as an additional feedstock facilitating year-round operations and improving their financial viability,” said the NFCSF press release.
There are over 200 cooperative sugar factories in the country, of which 63 have distilleries producing fuel-grade ethanol. However, cooperative sugar mills contribute only about 13% of the total ethanol supply. Their lower contribution, compared to private sugar mills, is primarily due to the insufficient availability of cane-based raw materials.
The crushing season for cooperative sugar factories usually ends in March-April. Beyond this period, ethanol production can only continue if grains are used. Ethanol production can be sustained year-round, offering financial benefits to these factories.
Maize is a low-water-consuming crop that can be grown in two seasons a year. The government has also increased its minimum support price this year. If cooperative sugar factories take advantage of this by converting their existing distillery projects into multi-feed facilities, ethanol production will accelerate. Oil marketing companies are in favour of entering into long-term agreements with sugar factories in this regard. Additionally, orders have been issued to prioritize the purchase of finished ethanol from cooperative distilleries.
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Source : Rural Voice
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