Ethanol industry has potential to become Rs 1 lakh crore industry: Nitin Gadkari

Union  Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on September 23 said that ethanol economy is on the rise.

"While the ethanol industry was pegged at Rs 12,000 crore last year , it is likely to rise to Rs  30,000 crore this year. The industry has the potential to rise to Rs 1,00,000 crore soon," said Gadkari.

He said the mission is to diversify agriculture to energy. This will not only increase farmers income but also enhance employment and reduce the country's dependence on petroleum products.

The government allowed production of ethanol by reconverting sugar as this is an economically viable option. Further, farmers could easily produce ethanol from other feedstock like bamboo, rice straw, cotton straw and wheat straw. He added that innovation, entrepreneurship, technology and research are required in agriculture

He suggested conversion of sugarcane to ethanol or bio CNG. He said the farmers will get a profit of Rs. 2,00,000 per acre.

There is a food surplus in the country which remains underutilised. "While the farmers produce surplus, they are not getting adequate price," be said.

Further, he said that diversifying to bio-fuel is a viable alternative.

Gadkari also emphasised on the need to convert carbon dioxide to ethanol and methanol.

He said that biofuel is suitable and a cheaper alternative. While CNG is a viable alternative for short distances like city traffic, LNG is a useful for long distance.

Speaking on public transport, he said that old buses may be converted to CNG as diesel buses run for 10 years whereas CNG runs for 15 years. He said that the government has already converted around 80 buses.

On the issue of encouraging MSMEs, the Minister said that he plans to issue a cabinet note to encourage the reopening of the closed mills. The plan would be to finance them and find mechanism to extract ethanol from sugarcane juice.

He further suggested that the SSI limit may be raised to encourage farmers to shift from agriculture to bio-fuel.