By IANS,
New Delhi : The government Monday said it would soon decide on the price of ethanol that is blended with petrol.
“We will shortly decide on ethanol price and take the proposal for cabinet approval this month itself,” Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of an industry event here.
Currently, state-run Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) buy ethanol at a provisional price of Rs.27 per litre, which the firms later blend with petrol.
In 2007, the government made five percent ethanol blending in petrol mandatory for OMCs.
Abdullah added that the government would be increasing the blend by another five percent, by next year.
“We should move towards 10 percent blending from next year,” he added.
According to industry data, OMCs have placed an order for 600 million litres of ethanol with sugar mills in 2011-12.
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar also said that he hoped that the price issue would be resolved soon.
“I hope the ethanol price issue, which is pending for long, will be resolved soon,” he said, adding that the industry had the capacity to fulfil the demand for potable alcohol and ethanol blending.
Currently, domestic industry has an annual output of 26 million tonnes of sugar, 3.5 billion litres of alcohol and 2,300 megawatts of electricity.