Govt extends soft-loans for ethanol to non-sugarcane-based distilleries

Move will cost govt Rs 4,573 cr, is a step forward in broader plan to achieve 20 per cent blending with petrol by 2030

To meet the ambitious target of 20 per cent ethanol blending with petrol by 2030 from less than 10 per cent currently, the Union Cabinet today extended the soft loan scheme for capacity expansion to distilleries that use crops other than sugarcane as their feedstock that includes rice, maize, sorghum, wheat, barley, corn and sugar beet.

So far, the soft loan scheme for capacity expansion was available for integrated and standalone distilleries that produced ethanol only from sugarcane.

“The total cost to exchequer due to this extension will be around Rs 4,573 crore,” Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told reporters after