Stop discrimination in ethanol procurement, pvt sugar millers urge govt

The Western India Sugar Mills Association, representing nearly 100 private sugar mills in Maharashtra, has raised concerns over the procurement practices of oil marketing companies under govt’s ethanol blending programme, which aims to blend ethanol with petrol to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

The association members said the govt-controlled oil marketing companies (OMCs) adopted a procurement hierarchy, prioritising ethanol from cooperative sugar mills, followed by dedicated ethanol plants and lastly, private sugar mills, only if there was any demand. This practice, initiated last year, was suspended after objections from the Western India Sugar Mills Association (WISMA) and other industry bodies. However, the practice has been reinstated in the latest tenders for ethanol procurement for 2025-26, the members said.

WISMA president B B Thombare said, “There is no level-playing field as far as the ethanol procurement policy is concerned. Around 75% of ethanol is produced by private mills, and they are given the last preference when it comes to procurement. The private mills have made more than Rs 15,000 crore investment to build the capacity to achieve the ethanol blending programme target. We have, therefore, written to petroleum and natural gas minister Hardeep Singh Puri to direct OMCs to bring equality in ethanol procurement.”

Maharashtra, India’s leading ethanol-producing state, has an annual production capacity of 315 crore litres. Of this, private sugar mills operate 50 distilleries with a combined capacity of 138 crore litres, cooperative mills run 46 distilleries producing 112 crore litres, and standalone distilleries contribute 64 crore litres from 40 units.

A WISMA study showed that the ethanol supply by private sugar mills decreased to 68% from 76% between 2021 and 2025.

This article has been republished from The Times of India.