Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah has called on sugar mills to explore alternative sources for ethanol production, focusing on achieving India’s 20 per cent ethanol blending target by 2025-26, well ahead of the original 2030 deadline. 

Speaking at an event organised by the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF), Shah stressed the importance of a multi-faceted approach to biofuel manufacturing.

Shah highlighted that India requires approximately 1,000 crore litres of ethanol for blending and confirmed that the necessary infrastructure to meet this target is already in place. He encouraged sugar mills to move beyond traditional sugarcane-based ethanol and consider other feedstocks such as maise and bamboo.

He also urged the federation to hire professionals to support loss-making cooperatives and set a target of increasing mills’ annual turnover by 25 per cent over the next two years.

Diversification and modernisation come as India intensifies its efforts to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and promote sustainable energy alternatives.

The NFCSF is in the process of drafting a ten-year roadmap for the sector, expected to be completed by 5 September. Currently, 280 cooperative sugar mills from nine states are members of the NFCSF.