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Informist, Tuesday, Apr. 7, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The government is considering promoting ethanol-based cookstoves, with necessary regulatory changes under discussion, Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said on the sidelines of an event organised by the Indian Sugar and Bio-energy Manufacturers Association.

 

"There is a proposal that we should try and promote the use of ethanol stoves...that proposal needs some regulatory changes by the MOPNG (Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas) and also by the BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards)," Chopra said. He said the government hopes to introduce enabling provisions to popularise ethanol cookstoves, particularly in areas surrounding ethanol distilleries, including nearby villages and catchment regions.

 

The move comes after the industry, in a letter to the Prime Minister's Office recently asked for diversifying India's cooking fuel mix, urging the government to explore ethanol-based cookstoves as a complementary solution to liquefied petroleum gas. While schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana have significantly expanded access to clean cooking fuel, India continues to rely heavily on LPG imports to meet demand, they had said.

 

In their letter, they had argued that ethanol-based cookstoves could help reduce import dependence by leveraging domestically produced biofuel. Ethanol is also seen as a cleaner-burning alternative that can lower indoor air pollution while supporting the country's broader biofuel ecosystem under the National Policy on Biofuels and the Ethanol Blended Petrol programme, they said.

 

The industry body recommended that the government initiate pilot programmes involving ministries, oil marketing companies, and technical institutions to assess the feasibility, safety standards, and economic viability of ethanol-based cooking solutions.

 

Chopra also highlighted structural inefficiencies in the sugar sector, noting gaps in process optimisation, data utilisation, and supply chain management. Small inefficiencies across stages--from harvesting to milling and distillation--can cumulatively lead to significant losses, he said, adding that better optimisation could improve sugar recovery by 0.2–0.3 percentage points.

 

He also pointed to variability in sugarcane yields and stressed the importance of timely crushing and improved farm-level planning. Greater use of digital systems and real-time data, along with stronger collaboration between industry, academia, and technology providers, will be key to improving efficiency and competitiveness, he said.   End

 

Reported by Pallavi Singhal and Afra Abubacker

Edited by Ashish Shirke

 

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