Making ethanol under new method could solve India's sugar surplus problem

Experts said that making ethanol from B-heavy molasses and cane juice would allow the possibility of a reduction in sugar surpluses, thus indirectly supporting sugar prices

The Centre this week not only raised the price of ethanol produced from C-heavy or C-grade molasses but also fixed a price for ethanol produced from B-heavy molasses and sugarcane juice for the first time.
 
Ethanol has been produced from C-heavy molasses, as production from the other two varieties wasn’t remunerative enough in the absence of any stable policy regime.
 
Further, for many years, there was restriction on directly manufacturing ethanol from sugarcane juice. Even when the curbs were removed a few years ago, there weren’t many takers, as it required additional investment in setting up new distilleries,