Sugar industry focus should be new tech: Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey

Sugar industry should now look beyond its immediate blending target of 2025 and focus on newer technologies as the journey of ethanol blending has just started, Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said. 

Speaking at a webinar on the future of the sugar sector, organised by the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), Pandey said in the 2020-21 sugar season that ended on Thursday around 2 mt of sugar was diverted towards ethanol while in 2021-22 around 3.4 mt will get diverted.

The Centre has decided to grant mills the entire quantity of sugar diverted in their monthly release quote.