The expansion will happen at the company’s plants in Jawaharpur and Nigohi in Uttar Pradesh and Kolhapur in Maharashtra.

Dalmia Bharat Sugar and Industries on Tuesday said it is planning to increase its ethanol manufacturing capacity to 15 crore litres per annum from January 2022, from the current 8 crore litres. This move is in line with the government’s decision to raise ethanol blending in auto fuels to 20 per cent by 2025 from around 8 per cent currently, the company said in a statement.

“With this capacity expansion to 15 crore litres per annum from January 2022, we will divert around 1,50,000 tonnes of sugar for ethanol production compared to 60,000 tonnes now,” Dalmia Bharat Sugar and Industries whole time director B B Mehta said.

The expansion will happen at the company’s plants in Jawaharpur and Nigohi in Uttar Pradesh and Kolhapur in Maharashtra.

The company is also setting up a new distillery at Ramgarh in Uttar Pradesh. Dalmia Bharat Sugar has sugar factories at Ramgarh, Jawaharpur, Nigohi, Kolhapur and Sangli.

“This move will allow the industry to cut carbon emissions and reduce the outflow of foreign exchange as crude oil imports will come down. And as the government cannot provide subsidies on sugar exports after 2023, due to WTO norms, the sugar manufacturers will now be able to divert that sugar for ethanol purposes,” Mehta said.

The advancement of the ethanol blending programme means that in the next 4-5 years, the industry will be able to balance its output with consumption, which will translate into reasonable prices for the sweetener and keep inventory under control, he added.

The above news was originally posted on auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com

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