A delegation of leaders of farmers from various sugarcane growing States will visit Brazil to study ethanol production and its usage and submit a report to the Government.
The delegation will also comprise industry representatives and Government officials and the team is expected to leave shortly. Kurubur Shanthakumar, President, Karnataka Sugarcane Cultivators Association who is one among the delegates, said that farmer leaders from Maharasthra and Uttar Pradesh will also be part of the study team.
‘’It has been our consistent demand with the Government to initiate an ethanol policy to increase ethanol production which will benefit farmers as well. We conducted a farmers convention in 2006 and placed the demand and the Government was moving in that direction now’’, said Mr.Shanthakumar.
He said from the sugarcane farmers point of view, increase in ethanol production was a solution to the financial crisis faced by the cultivators due to non-payment of dues by the sugar mills. Instead, if sugarcane was diverted for ethanol production then he will be in a position to receive competitive rates from the ethanol distilling units’’, Mr.Shanthakumar added.
He said not only was ethanol blending with petroleum more ecofriendly but would result in substantial savings to the national exchequer by way of reduction in petroleum import.
The visit also holds significance in the light of the roadmap for ethanol blending in India released last year as per which ethanol distillation is expected to double by 2025.
