Lack of remunerative rates, policy changes tether ethanol blending

India's ambitious plans for an agri-derived ethanol-fuelled transport sector rest on the twin pillars of remunerative rates and agricultural yields

Six months into India’s latest ethanol supply season, the needle on blending biofuel with petrol hasn't moved an inch. The blending ratio in the first half of the November 2023-October 2024 ethanol supply year (ESY) averaged 12.1 per cent — flat from the entire ESY 2022-23. That compares with a 1.9 percentage point gain in 2021-22 from 2020-21 and a 2.1 percentage point gain in 2022-23 from the previous ESY.

The slowdown in ethanol output carries consequences — hurling the 20 per cent ethanol-blended petrol (EBP) target by 2025-26 out of range — leaving India dependent on more polluting, expensive fossil