Maha sugar mills look to ethanol for increased profitability

In India, the Hindustan Times newspaper reports that some Maharashtra sugar mills are shifting their business models to focus on ethanol production rather than sugar. Ethanol production in the state soared by nearly 10-fold in the past year to 2.44 billion liters. Mills do not yet have the installed capacity to supply demand from the oil marketing companies that are aiming to achieve the country’s 20% blending mandate by 2025. Ethanol demand increased more than 80% per year between 2020-2022 and rose again by more than 36% this year.