A sugar rush for emissions: Is ethanol-spiked fuel a sweet solution?

Rising compliance with ethanol-spiked fuels in vehicle could be a win-win situation all round

By all reckoning the ethanol story for India will leave a sweet taste all round. For sugar growers it spells growing demand, for the government a lower import bill for oil, and for environmentalists, cleaner emissions from vehicles.

From April this year, all cars in showrooms have to be E20 compliant. This means that whenever the ethanol spike in the petrol reaches 20 per cent, the vehicles have to be good enough to run on them. According to the National Policy on Biofuels timetable, India could hit the 20 per cent mark by 2025. India had already crossed the 10