Mumbai, Sep 28 (PTI) Rajasthan Governor Haribhau Bagade on Monday said ethanol production, promotion and use will shield India from volatile international petroleum markets and geopolitical risks.
“Sugarcane fields should be like wells and reservoirs of ethanol. We must lead the world,” Bagde said while jointly addressing four conferences in Mumbai: the Bharat Ethanol Forum, Global Turmeric Conclave, Maize Markets Summit & Expo, and Bio Resources & Circular Economy Summit & Expo.
Bagde praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari for promoting ethanol.
A former speaker of the Maharashtra assembly with long experience of sugar cooperatives, Bagde recalled that ethanol blending in India began under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, when Ram Naik was Petroleum Minister.
“A pilot programme to blend ethanol with petrol was inaugurated at Manmad in Maharashtra, where large petrol and diesel depots are located. I was present as Minister for Food and Civil Supplies,” he recalled.
He said sugar factories cannot survive on sugar alone as their viability depends on value-added by-products.
“Many cooperative mills suffered heavy losses precisely because they produced only sugar. Then came cogeneration plants for electricity, followed by ethanol units and in-house distilleries. With strong encouragement and capital subsidies from the Central government, ethanol plants spread rapidly across Maharashtra and the country,” the Rajasthan governor said.
He noted that ethanol is used as a vehicle fuel, an industrial chemical, and an ingredient in medicines, beverages and hand sanitisers.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, sanitiser demand soared. I saw five-litre cans selling for as much as Rs 2,000, when ethanol itself cost around Rs 57 a litre.
“We obtained a manufacturing licence, prepared sanitiser properly with the required dilution and colouring, and supplied five-litre cans to gram panchayats at Rs 400 each, keeping only a modest margin,” Bagde said, adding that public service should be prioritised in hard times, rather than profiteering.
He said ethanol can be made not only from cane juice and molasses, but also from maize and agricultural waste.
“Almost any organic matter, anything other than metal, stone or plastic, can yield some ethanol,” he added.
Maharashtra Cooperation Minister Babasaheb Patil said sugar factories are essential to help farmers, but ethanol production is vital to strengthen the rural economy and ensure timely cane payments.
“Our country faces serious problems from carbon emissions. Whether in Delhi, Mumbai or many other states, the environment is being badly harmed. When we travel to countries like Japan or Australia, the difference in air quality is striking,” he said.
Noting that pollution causes a range of ailments, from skin disorders to cancer, Bagde said the solution is to use ethanol and alternative energy for vehicles.
Pasha Patel, Chairman of the Maharashtra State Agricultural Price Commission and Executive Chairman of the Chief Minister’s Environment and Sustainable Development Task Force, said there is a lot of misinformation about ethanol.
“In the ‘Discovery of India, Nehru wrote that the country needed power alcohol but could not make it, because the British oil-marketing company Burmah-Shell would not allow it. Until Burmah-Shell left, India could not produce power alcohol,” Patel said.
He said Nehru remained Prime Minister for nearly two decades, followed by Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, P.V. Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh, but for 60 years, ethanol was never introduced.
“It was Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who listened to our voice and decided to blend 5% ethanol into petrol. Nobody objected. No problem with E10 and then E20,” he said.
Patel alleged that the commission lobby felt the pain and decided to oppose Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious announcement on flex-fuel engines running on 100 per cent ethanol. PTI MR NSK
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