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Informist, Friday, Sept. 12, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – India's ethanol supply will remain overwhelmingly dependent on first-generation ethanol made from sugarcane juice and grains until at least 2030, Anurag Saraogi, executive director (biofuels), Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd, said. Second-generation ethanol plants are yet to commercially scale up production, he said at the India Sugar and Bio-Energy Conference. 

 

Saraogi noted that while there is abundant availability of feedstock for making 2G ethanol, collection and processing infrastructure is yet to be advanced. "There is surplus paddy production, and enough paddy straw is available. But collecting it is a challenge. 2G ethanol technologies are costlier than 1G ethanol," he said. Second-generation refineries contribute just about 1.6 billion litres of ethanol annually, against 70–80 billion litres from 1G plants, he added. 

 

Amid investment in distillation capacities, the industry sought a clear roadmap beyond the current 20% blending ethanol mandate. Though Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari was reported to have said the government would release the roadmap by August-end, there has been no update on this. According to industry officials, the government seems to have put brakes on higher blending mandates amid rising concern about fuel efficiency, vehicle compatibility, and food security. 

 

After accelerating ethanol blending in petrol, the government is now looking to expand the biofuel landscape by blending isobutanol into diesel. The government plans to blend isobutanol with diesel after trials with ethanol mixing in diesel, or ED-5, failed to deliver expected results, Gadkari said on Thursday.

 

Automotive Research Association of India Director Reji Mathai also suggested using surplus ethanol to produce isobutanol for blending with diesel. Isobutanol, which can be produced from ethanol through biochemical conversion, offers higher energy density and is less corrosive than ethanol, making it more suitable for diesel blending.

 

On pricing, experts say ethanol rates should be determined by market forces rather than fixed by the government. "The market should eventually be matured enough to determine the prices by market forces," P.S. Ravi, director (downstream), Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry, said. Citing benchmark prices of crude oil and natural gas, Ravi said ethanol prices should also follow international benchmarks.  End

 

Reported by Afra Abubacker and Pallavi Singhal

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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