The Indian government last week approved a reduction in the price of ethanol supplied to state oil marketing companies (OMCs).

The price was set at INR 39 per litre (USD 0.58/EUR 0.53) for the 2016/17 sugar season, during the ethanol supply period from December 1, 2016 to November 30, 2017. The excise duties, taxes and transportation charges will be covered by the OMCs.

Currently, the price of ethanol at oil company depots is INR 48.50 to INR 49.50 per litre, including taxes and transportation charges. That price was fixed in December 2014 in a bid to increase the supply for ethanol for the country’s Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme.

In a statement, the government said ethanol supplies for 2015/16 are expected to be around 1.2 billion litres, up from 674 million litres in 2014/15. It explained the price revision with the “firming of sugar prices, falling crude prices and consequent under-recoveries of OMCs on this account.”

Under the EBP programme, OMCs sell ethanol blended petrol with up to 10% ethanol.

 

Provided by SeeNews exclusively for Essentica.