Government likely to announce up to Rs 2.5 a litre hike in ethanol price today

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The rate for ethanol from B-heavy molasses and C-heavy molasses may also hike by Re 1 to Rs 2.5 a litre, a report said

The government had last hiked the price of ethanol extracted from sugarcane for doping in petrol by up to Rs 3.34 per litre in October 2020. (Representative image)

The government had last hiked the price of ethanol extracted from sugarcane for doping in petrol by up to Rs 3.34 per litre in October 2020. (Representative image)

The government is likely to give the nod to raise the price of ethanol between Re 1 and Rs 2.5 a litre on November 10, CNBC Awaaz has reported. The hike will push up the price of sugarcane-based ethanol to Rs 64 a litre from Rs 62.65, the channel said.

According to the report, the revised price will come into effect from December 1. The rate for ethanol from B-heavy molasses and C-heavy molasses may also be hiked by Re 1 to Rs 2.5 per litre, the report said.

The government last hiked the price of ethanol extracted from sugarcane for blending in petrol by up to Rs 3.34 in October 2020 to ramp up the programme that has benefited farmers and also helped cut down the oil import bill.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had raised the price of ethanol extracted from sugarcane juice to Rs 62.65 per litre from Rs 59.48 a litre for the supply year beginning December 2020.

India allows doping of up to 10 percent ethanol in petrol to cut import bill and vehicular emissions. It also allows cane grower to get a remunerative price for their produce.

The government in June 2021 advanced by two years the target for 20 percent ethanol-blending with petrol. According to a government notification, the increased ethanol blend will now kick in from April 2023.

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Earlier, there was only price for ethanol but the government fixed different price for different sources of ethanol.

At present ethanol production is allowed from C-heavy molasses, B-heavy molasses, sugarcane juice or syrup or direct sugar.

There has also been talk of using surplus rice for producing ethanol for fuel-blending.

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