The year 2070 may appear a long way, when India has pledged to go net-zero on emissions, but the country is going at full throttle along the course. Ethanol has come up as a sustainable solution to lower the economy’s dependence on fossil fuels and cut down the cost of petrol imports.

Under the National Policy of Biofuels 2018, India had set a target of 20% ethanol blending in petrol and 5% biodiesel blending in diesel by 2030. The ethanol blending target was later advanced to 2025. Two months into 2025, India has achieved up to 19% ethanol blending target, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the third edition of India Energy Week in Delhi. “India will achieve its 20% target by October.”

India’s biofuels industry, too, is set for rapid acceleration, with 500 Mn tonnes of sustainable feedstock. “The growth in ethanol blending has led to forex savings and generation of substantial farmer revenue,” Modi said.

The government’s push for a cleaner, greener India has set the electric vehicle industry too in the fast lane to surpass $132 Bn by 2030, according to a recent Inc42 study — India’s Electric Vehicle Startup Landscape Report, 2025.

As India accelerates its double-engine transport of ethanol and electric vehicles, the way to 2070 doesn’t appear that long.

Ethanol And India’s Evolving Automobile Landscape

Ethanol is a biofuel produced from the fermentation of sugar by yeast or from petrochemical processes like ethylene hydration. It is used as an alternative fuel source in automobiles, as a solvent in paints and varnishes, as antiseptic and disinfectant in drugs, and as an ingredient in alcoholic beverages.

According to the India Climate & Energy Dashboard, until FY23, 46.5% of ethanol was produced in the country from B-heavy molasses, 1.1% from C-heavy molasses, 25% from sugarcane juice or sugar, and the rest from sources like maize, rice, and damaged food grains.

By FY24, India reduced its reliance on B-heavy molasses to 23.4% for ethanol production and raised it to 9.2% on C-heavy molasses and 39.6% on maize.

In simple terms, molasses is the syrup or juice obtained while extracting sugar from sugarcane or other sources of sugar. B-heavy molasses and........

© Inc42