Gadkari bats for ethanol directly from sugar beet

New Delhi: Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has urged the Rajasthan government to start direct conversion of sugar beet into ethanol.

“I was recently in Rajasthan. In a meeting with the Chief Minister, the two Deputy Chief Ministers, and the Chief Secretary, we were discussing development. I said that now in Ganganagar, they should give permission to make ethanol directly from sugar beet instead of making sugar,” Gadkari recently said at a gathering of the Indian Federation of Green Energy (IFGE) at his residence.

He also suggested that 20 per cent ethanol should be blended in the diesel and petrol pipeline going from Numaligarh to Bangladesh so that our ethanol can be exported. This will also bring down the prices of petrol and diesel in Bangladesh.

Ethanol is also made from bamboo in Assam and other North Eastern states. If this happens, the people there will get employment in large numbers, the Minister said.

He stressed on proven technology, economic viability, availability of raw materials, and the marketability of the finished product. Focus should be on three Cs—co-operation, communication, and co-ordination. Research and cost competitiveness should be the key factors, he added.

Gadkari also expressed satisfaction over the conversion of stubble into biogas. “Burning of stubble damages the environment. I am happy that we are now making biogas from stubble and a large number of such projects are being set up.”

The National Policy of Biofuels-2018 provided indicative targets of 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol and five per cent biodiesel blending in diesel by 2030. Encouraged by the past seven years performance under the Ethanol Blending Programme, the government decided to advance the targets of 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol from 2030 to Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2025-26, an official press release said in December 2023. The Roadmap for Ethanol Blending in India 2020-25, prepared by an inter-ministerial committee, estimated ethanol requirement of 1,016 crore litres to achieve 20 per cent blending targets in ESY2025-26.