Sugar Mills in Maharashtra Seek Support for Multi-Feed Distilleries

Maharashtra’s sugar mills are asking for help to switch to multi-feed distilleries for year-round ethanol production

Sugar Mills in Maharashtra Seek Support for Multi-Feed Distilleries
Sugar Mills in Maharashtra Seek Support for Multi-Feed Distilleries

Pune: Cooperative sugar mills in Maharashtra are looking for some financial help from the government. They want to switch their distilleries to multi-feed facilities. This change would let them use maize and other grains for making ethanol, even when sugarcane isn’t in season.

Right now, most of these mills can only produce ethanol during the sugarcane crushing season. But other states with multi-feed distilleries are cranking out ethanol all year long using different grains. So, there’s a bit of a gap here.

Last week, a bunch of officials and experts from the cooperative sector met in Pune to brainstorm solutions. The meeting was led by Harshvardhan Patil, who heads the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories. They had managing directors from various sugar factories and even some bigwigs from the Ministry of Cooperation there.

The main focus was figuring out how to upgrade their distilleries. Experts pointed out that using grains like maize could keep the distilleries running year-round. This would not only boost ethanol production but also help the mills stay financially healthy.

Dr. Kunal Khemnar, the sugar commissioner, mentioned that there are over 200 cooperative sugar factories in India, but only 63 have distilleries making fuel-grade ethanol. They only contribute about 13% to the country’s ethanol supply, which is way less than private mills. This is mainly because they struggle to get enough cane-based raw materials.

Typically, the crushing season wraps up around March or April. If they switch to grains like maize, which can be grown twice a year and needs less water, they could produce ethanol all year long. Plus, the government recently raised the minimum support price for maize, making it a more attractive option.

On top of that, oil marketing companies are keen to strike long-term deals with these cooperative mills, focusing on ethanol procurement from their distilleries. The central government has also cut the price of rice for ethanol producers, which is pushing these mills to think about upgrading their operations to make the most of these new opportunities.

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