India’s Ethanol Capacity Reaches 19.9 Billion Litres

10-Dec-2025 08:45 PM

Mumbai. Due to the rapid development and expansion of grain-based distilleries, along with those using sugarcane ingredients, the country's total ethanol production capacity has reached close to 19.9 billion liters by November 2025.

However, due to several reasons, distilleries are not achieving their full potential. First, the target for ethanol blending in petrol in India is currently set at 20 percent, and this target has already been achieved.

Only when the blending target is increased will oil marketing companies (OMCs) be able to issue tenders for larger quantities of ethanol, encouraging distillers to increase production.

Secondly, the government frequently adjusts the level of sugarcane used in ethanol production to improve sugar production, which creates inconvenience for distilleries.

India's ethanol sector is steadily growing. Domestic ethanol production and blending has made significant progress in recent years. Distillery production capacity is rapidly expanding, and it is expected that they will be able to maximize their potential in the coming years.

Previously, ethanol was produced solely from sugarcane juice and syrup, B-heavy molasses, C-heavy molasses, rice, and damaged grains.

However, in the last few years, large quantities of maize have been used in its production, and distillery capacity has also expanded rapidly.

As a result, maize-derived ethanol accounts for the largest volume of ethanol supply tenders issued by OMCs.

It is worth noting that ethanol fuel is a renewable biofuel and is produced from maize, rice, and sugarcane components.

Distilleries are receiving large quantities of cheap rice from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for ethanol production.

If oil marketing companies issue tenders for larger quantities, distillers will also receive a significant incentive to increase ethanol production.