New Delhi: Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme was launched by the Governmentin 2003 which has been extended to the Notified 21 States and 4 Union Territories to promote the use of alternative and environment friendly fuels. EBP Programme also seeks to reduce import dependency for energy requirements.
However, since 2006, targeted ethanol blending could not be achieved due to various constraints like State Specific issues, Supplier related issues, Pricing issues of ethanol, etc. From year 2006 till 2013, only about 20 crore litres per year could be blended and during sugar year 2013-14, 38 crore litres of ethanol was made available for EBP.
In order to augment the supply of ethanol, the Government, under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has taken many steps including fixing the delivered price of ethanol at Oil Marketing Depots (OMCs), simplifying the procurement procedures and regularly taking up State specific issues with the State Governments. The aforesaid steps have helped in significantly improving the supply of ethanol to 67.4 crore litres during 2014-15.
The impact of the decisions has continued in the current season and for the first time since the launch of EBP, the ethanol procurement by Public Sector OMCs during one supply year has crossed the figure of 100 crore litres. It is expected that Public Sector OMCs will be able to blend 110 crore litres of ethanol in this supply year which is an all-time record.
