5 months ago
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It is indispensable to supply a roadmap for ethanol blending beyond the contiguous 20% to code existing concerns astir unutilised capacities and investments already made successful the realm, Director-General astatine Indian Sugar & Bio-energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA) Deepak Ballani told The Hindu successful an enactment Tuesday.
He explained the sweetener manufacture invested much than ₹40,000 crore to physique a capableness of 900 crore litres of ethanol. Elaborating connected the existing concerns, helium stated, “The stock of sugar-based feedstocks successful ethanol person declined from an erstwhile 90% to 28% astatine present.”
“We person the capableness contiguous (for blending beyond 20%). However, since my capableness is not being utilised, the concern [already made] is going down the drain that besides limits my capableness to wage farmers connected time,” helium stated.
The Director-General said ISMA has suggested the authorities look to summation the blending from the contiguous 20%, to 22% and thereafter 25% successful a “phased manner”. In summation to this, helium stated the authorities besides see drafting a argumentation roadmap for car makers to manufacture ‘flexi-fuel’ and beardown hybrid variant of vehicles, which tin instrumentality 100% of ethanol, successful India.
“EV is not the lone reply [to decarbonisation], we person to beryllium pathway-agnostic,” helium said.
‘Feedstock for SAF not an issue, but request clarity policy-wise’
Responding to a query astir the industry’s capableness of being capable to supply for enhanced targets for sustainable aviation substance (SAF) successful aboriginal and imaginable for export, the ISMA main emphasised that feedstock is not an contented but reiterated the request for clarity connected the argumentation front. This entails, according to him, a warrant connected offtake and the administered terms mechanism. “That is, however much, by erstwhile and what is the terms astatine which you volition procure,” helium explained.
Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu had stated November 6 that the authorities would “soon” merchandise a nationalist argumentation connected sustainable aviation fuel. At present, India is targeting a 1% SAF blend by 2027, 2% by 2028, and 5% by 2030 for planetary flights successful enactment with compliance to the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).
Elaborating connected the inherent vantage for India successful the realm, Mr. Ballani pointed to SAF being an “international mandate and not a country-specific mandate”. He stated India has surplus sugar, much importantly, the country’s sugarcane has the “lowest” c emanation scale successful the satellite making which makes domestically produced SAF viable for planetary export arsenic well.
Additionally, helium mentioned, “Even aft diverting for ethanol blending, we person capable surplus to divert for SAF astatine present,” helium said.
(With inputs from Jagriti Chandra)
