Cabinet approves Mechanism for procurement of ethanol by Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, CCEA on Thursday approved Mechanism for procurement of ethanol by Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies under Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme.

 

Briefing media in New Delhi, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said, earlier, there used to be one rate for ethanol but now there will be different prices.

 

He said new Price fixed for Ethanol produced from sugar will be Rs. 62.65 per litre, ethanol manufactured from B heavy molasses will be Rs. 57.61 per litre and ethanol manufactured from C heavy molasses will be Rs. 45.69 per litre.

Additionally GST and transportation charges will also be payable.

 

Oil Marketing Companies have been advised to fix realistic transportation charges so that long distance transportation of ethanol is not disincentivised. 

 

In order to offer fair opportunity to the localized industry within the State and reduce crisscross movement of ethanol, Oil Marketing Companies shall decide the criteria for priority of ethanol from various sources taking in account various factors like cost of transportation, availability, etc.

Government has been implementing Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme wherein OMCs sell petrol blended with ethanol up to 10 per cent.

 

This programme has been extended to whole of India except Union Territories of Andaman Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands with effect from 1st April, 2019 to promote the use of alternative and environment friendly fuels.

Mr Javadekar said, CCEA also approved extension of Norms for Mandatory Packaging in Jute Materials.

 

He said, 100 per cent of the food-grains and 20 per cent of



the sugar shall be mandatorily packaged in diversified jute bags.  

The Minister said,  the decision to pack sugar in diversified jute bags will give an impetus to the diversification of the jute industry.

 

Further, the decision also mandates that initially 10 per cent of the indents of jute bags for packing foodgrains would be placed through reverse auction on the Gem portal.

 

This will gradually usher in a regime of price discovery.  The Government has expanded the scope of mandatory packaging norms under the Jute Packaging Material Act, 1987.

 

The Minister said, the decision will benefit farmers and workers located in the Eastern and North Eastern regions of the country particularly in West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya and Tripura.

Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said, CCEA approved Externally Aided Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project, DRIP Phase II and Phase III with the financial assistance of the World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to improve the safety and operational performance of selected dams across the whole country, along with institutional strengthening with system wide management approach.

 

The project worth Rs. 10, 211 crore will be implemented from April 2021 to March 2031 in two phases.

 

The share of external funding is Rs. 7,000 crore of the total project cost and balance Rs. 3,211 crore is to be borne by the concerned Implementing Agencies.

 

The contribution of Central Government is Rs. 1,024 crore as loan liability and Rs. 285 crore as counter-part funding for Central Component.