Ponni Sugars (Erode) has abandoned its plan to establish an ethanol unit as part of its sugar complex due to restrictions imposed by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board. “Our ethanol project has failed to take off due to the rigid stance of pollution control authorities,” N Gopala Ratnam, Chairman of the company said while addressing the company’s annual general meeting over video conference mode.
The company has argued that for long-term sustainability and viability, its ethanol plant needs to be co-located within the sugar mill complex, allowing it to produce allied products such as rectified spirit and extra-neutral alcohol on par with its peers.
However, the State Government’s locational restrictions on setting up industrial units within 5 km of a notified river have obstructed this plan. “It looks like this conditionality needs re-evaluation, especially when technology has advanced significantly to effectively address environmental concerns,” he added.
Ratnam emphasised that expansion and diversification of existing industrial units in these locations should be allowed, provided they strictly adhere to environmental standards. As this issue involves public policy, the ethanol project is kept in abeyance. Nonetheless, the policy focus of the Centre on ethanol has come to reinforce the demand for our molasses, resulting in better prices for this by-product, he added.
Success story
The ethanol blend programme, reinvigorated in 2018, has been termed as a great success story for the sugar industry. Ethanol production was also used as a tool to absorb surplus sugar in the system. Government policies helped subsume 101 lakh tonnes of sugar over the past 5 years in the process.
There has been a steady rise in the blend percentage reaching 12 per cent in Ethanol Supply Year 2022/23. Current year target of 15 per cent may not, however, be met due to restrictions clamped on ethanol production by sacrificing sugar but this at best is just a blip, he said.
Simultaneously, the government has been promoting grain-based ethanol, but the sugar industry will play a crucial role in achieving the 20 per cent blending target. There is growing interest and gaining momentum to launch flex-fuel vehicles that could operate with ethanol mix up to 100 per cent. Given its economic and environmental positives, ethanol has to come to stay as a viable and sustainable eco-friendly fuel for India, he stated.