Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the largest ethanol producing state in the country by producing a total of 58 crore litres of ethanol in 54 distilleries established across the state.
A government spokesman said that the state manufactured 58 crore litres of ethanol, a solvent that is essentially mixed with petrol for environmental purposes, in 2020-21. He said in a major relief to farmers, an additional payment of Rs 864 crore was credited to the accounts of sugarcane farmers from the sale of ethanol.
By mixing ethanol in petrol, the Uttar Pradesh government has been able to contribute to saving a total of 75.58 million dollars of India's foreign exchange reserve, thereby boosting the economy in these testing times. Ethanol is a type of alcohol that is mixed with petrol and is used as fuel in vehicles.
According to environmental experts, ethanol mixed with petrol may reduce carbon monoxide pollution by 35 per cent.
It may be recalled that the distilleries of sugar mills and other units produced a record 1.77 crore litres of sanitiser which was not only supplied within the state but also exported to other states.
