Exhorting sugar mills to switch to producing ethanol, Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari on Sunday said ethanol would prove beneficial for tackling the problems stemming from surplus production and falling prices.

 

He also warned the mills that if they did not switch to producing ethanol, they would risk becoming dysfunctional.

 

“The surplus production of sugar is a major problem. However, it is not possible to reduce it, and it is also hard to change crop patterns. Sugar mills must decide whether they want to make sugar or ethanol from sugar cane juice,” Mr. Gadkari said at the conclusion of a Sugar Conference organised by the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank.

 

 

“Even after providing financial aid, if a sugar mill suffers losses, then nothing can be done by the State or the Centre. So I urge the sugar cooperatives to turn to ethanol, else the government cannot save you,” he said.

 

Mr. Gadkari said the Centre has a consistent, transparent and long-term ethanol purchase policy. “Today, the ethanol economy in the country is ₹11,000 crore. In the next two years, this is set to rise to ₹50,000 crore. It is a pollution-free, green fuel.”

 

The minister said, “In Brazil, the price of sugar is ₹22 per kg while in India, we have fixed ₹32-34 per kg. Hence in the world market, nobody is willing to buy our sugar and as a result, we are making losses.”

 

Mr. Gadkari said it has come to his knowledge that Maharashtra is slow in giving permission to sugar factories for converting sugar cane juice to ethanol and B-class molasses to ethanol. “As a result, a number of sugar factories could not start adopting this policy last October. I would recommend that there be an eight-day limit for permission to be given once the request is received.”

 

On production costs, Mr. Gadkari said farmers should be encouraged to use alternative fuels such as biodiesel and bio-CNG.

 

“I have experimented with my factories in Vidarbha and have saved ₹40 lakh a month. The annual savings come to ₹5-7 crore. Sugar factories in western Maharashtra can save as much as ₹15 crore a year by running their tractors on these fuels.”

 

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, who was also present on the occasion, urged the Centre to help pull ailing sugar cooperatives from their financial crisis. “The following year [2019-2020] may spell trouble for sugar production. I expect it will plummet by nearly 40-45% owing to the acute water scarcity that hit the State in the summer months,” Mr. Pawar said.

 

Mr. Gadkari said while it took a long time for subsidies to be granted, he will discuss the matter and propose expediting the process of granting relief.