Lucknow, Jul 25 (IANS): Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the largest ethanol-producing state in the country.

A total of 58 crore litres of ethanol was produced by 54 distilleries established across the state.

According to the government spokesman, the state has manufactured 58 crore litres of ethanol, a solvent that is essentially mixed with petrol for environmental purposes, in the year 2020-21.

In a major relief to the farmers, an additional payment of Rs 864 crore was sent to the accounts of sugarcane farmers from the sale of ethanol.

By mixing ethanol in petrol, the Uttar Pradesh government was able to contribute to saving a total of 75.58 million dollars of India's forex reserve, giving a big boost to 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 had produced a record 1.77 crore litres of sanitizer which was not only supplied within the state but also exported to other states.