After sugar, UP becomes highest ethanol producer

Uttar Pradesh, country’s highest sugar producing state, has also attained the distinction of becoming the highest producer of ethanol in the country with the number of distilleries producing the solvent from heavy molasses, a by-product of cane juice, rising from two in 2019-20 to 2020-21. According to the figures released by the state government on Wednesday, UP manufactured 126.1 crore litres of ethanol, a solvent which is essentially mixed with petrol. The government has also been seeking to divert sugarcane juice directly for production of ethanol, strategy to arrest the fall in the prices of raw sugar in the wake of a glut which eventually affects payment by sugar mills to farmers.