NEW DELHI: Ethanol supplies from private distilleries to public sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have increased more than 2.4 times over the past five years, reaching a record 1,040.09 crore litres in the Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2024-25, the government informed the Rajya Sabha.
In a written reply to an unstarred question by Rajya Sabha member A.A. Rahim, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi said ethanol supplies from private distilleries stood at 418.73 crore litres in ESY 2021-22. The supplies increased to 506.42 crore litres in ESY 2022-23 and 679.01 crore litres in ESY 2023-24 before rising sharply in ESY 2024-25.
For the ongoing ESY 2025-26, private distilleries supplied 717.29 crore litres of ethanol to OMCs up to June 30, 2026. The government noted that the figure represents part of the current supply year and is therefore not directly comparable with full-year data for previous years.
The minister said the government had introduced several Ethanol Interest Subvention Schemes (EISS) between 2018 and 2022 to encourage sugar mills and distilleries to establish new ethanol production capacity and expand existing facilities. Grain-based ethanol projects were brought under the scheme from 2021.
He said the government has also expanded the range of feedstocks permitted for ethanol production, introduced an administered pricing mechanism under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme to provide stable and remunerative prices for producers, and facilitated Long-Term Offtake Agreements (LTOAs) between OMCs and dedicated ethanol plants.
The government added that information relating to the total quantity of ethanol produced in the country falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Food and Public Distribution under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
