Govt's ethanol blending programme faces supply and pricing problem

The government's ambitious aim to double the blending target could face challenges from two of the three sources: Grain-based and biomass-based

India’s ambitious plan to blend 20 per cent ethanol with petrol rests on two sources of supply: Sugarcane-based and grain-based sources.

Between the two, the first one is well on track because ethanol production from molasses derived from sugarcane has been a long-standing and fairly established process.

But the second component, which had started picking up from January 2021 after a series of favourable policy announcements, is facing multiple headwinds.

Though both the government and the industry are confident that India will achieve its target of sourcing a big portion of ethanol from grain-based sources by 2025, industry and market