The Hindu : Karnataka News : ‘Promote ethanol production’

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Wednesday, Sep 05, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka

‘Promote ethanol production’

Staff Correspondent

The U.S. President has taken the initiative to encourage such activity: okkuta

DAVANGERE: The Bharatiya Raitha Okkuta has urged the Government to promote producing ethanol from molasses on the lines of the exercise going on in the United States of America and noted that foreign exchange could be saved if ethanol is produced from molasses here.

Talking to presspersons here on Tuesday, C. Narasimhappa, okkuta president, said the U.S. President had taken the initiative and encouraged production of ethanol from molasses. He said that the U.S. was successful in its experiment. A considerable part of fuel requirement of the U.S. was being met by the ethanol produced of molasses there. India, which produced large quantity of sugar, could start producing ethanol of molasses, he said.

He noted that the country produced 2.90 lakh tonnes of sugar while the requirement was only half of it. Sugar production is expected to go up to 3.5 lakh tonnes next year and unless “we give importance to producing ethanol thereby reducing sugar production, sugarcane farmers and sugar factories will be in distress unable to sell sugar,” he said.

On the inaction of the Union Government to produce ethanol from molasses, Prof. Narasimhappa alleged that the Government might be under the stranglehold of the oil companies.

Referring to the modernisation of the Bhadra channels, Prof. Narasimhappa said that he had visited a number of places on the Bhadra channel.

Work was going on without the supervision of the officers of the Irrigation Department. He urged the Karnataka Niravari Nigam to post at least 150 assistant executive engineers and other senior officers to supervise the work to ensure quality.

Prof. Narasimhappa said that he had sent samples of jelly being used in the modernisation works near Karur and Belludi villages to the quality control authority of the nigam for its certification.

Prof. Narasimhappa urged the Government to announce a support price of Rs. 700 per quintal of maize this year. He said Davangere district is set to produce a record quantity of 10.5 lakh tonnes of maize.

Lingaraju, okkuta secretary, was present.

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