Sugar Firms Seek Legal Recourse Against Ban on Ethanol Production from Cane Juice - 2024-01-12

**Sugar Firms Seek Legal Recourse Against Ban on Ethanol Production from Cane Juice** **Two sugar firms, a distillery, and a cooperative sugar mill have approached local courts seeking a stay on the Centre’s December 7 order prohibiting mills from producing ethanol from sugarcane juice in the 2023-24 season.** The courts have stayed the December 7 order for the two mills that submitted the petition. The central government, according to sources, had also submitted a caveat to be heard in the matter. But there is no official confirmation so far on the Centre’s response. In its petition to the Karnataka High Court, the distillery mentioned earlier said it produced only ethanol from cane, not sugar. **The Centre issued the ban to keep a check on rising sugar prices in the domestic market despite restrictions on exports due to lower sugarcane yield in main producer states of Maharashtra and Karnataka.** **Industry body Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), which has now renamed itself as Indian Sugar and Bio-energy Manufacturers Association, had said the “sudden ban” on the use of cane juice for ethanol would have an adverse impact on capacity utilisation of mills, putting at “r” their ₹15,000-crore investment in the last three years to set up plants for green fuel.** In July, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) had stopped supplying rice for ethanol production to distilleries, leaving distilleries with fewer options for raw materials for ethanol production. Under the Ethanol Blending Programme, India wants to achieve 20% blending of petrol with ethanol by 2025, producing ethanol with sugar as well as grains.