The Indian Sugar Mills’ Association (ISMA) has said that to achieve the target of 8-8.5% ethanol blending, it is important to increase the blending level to at least 12% in surplus States and adjoining ones.

In a release, the association said on the ethanol front, against the total Letter of Intent quantity of 346.52 crore litres, 321.18 crore litres were contracted for and 145.38 crore litres of ethanol were supplied, as on May 24, 2021. On an average, in the current ethanol supply year (December 2020 to November 2021), the blending percentage is 7.56%, it said. 

Meanwhile, oil companies have floated expressions of interest (EOI), inviting bids from producers for another 26 crore litres of ethanol for supply till November 30, ISMA said.