Blend more April 08, 2021 The Centre must look to reduce its dependence on the sugarcane sector for ethanol blending scheme - Bloomberg The Centre must look to reduce its dependence on the sugarcane sector for ethanol blending scheme - Bloomberg× As ethanol blending ratio hits 7%, the Centre must cut the programme’s high cane reliance After faltering for many years, India’s ethanol blended petrol programme (EBP), designed to reduce the country’s fossil fuel dependence and trim its large crude oil import bill, appears to be taking baby steps. In the first four months of the current supply year (December 2020 to November 2021), about 80 crore litres of ethanol have made it to the fuel pumps, translating to a blending ratio of 7 per cent. Should supplies continue at this pace, the country could get to a blending ratio of 8.5 per cent for the full year. This would be an achievement in itself, given that it was less than 2 per cent in 2017 and has never exceeded 5 per cent blending thus far. The achievement of this year’s targets would lend some credibility to the Centre’s decision to bring forward the targets, set in the National Biofuels Policy, for 10 per cent ethanol blending by 2022 and 20 per cent by 2025. But, then, after showing promise, India’s EBP programme has often come a cropper.