-Scroll.in The government wants to reduce its dependence on imported crude oil by producing more ethanol-blended petrol. While India is making a push for ethanol-blended petrol, by incentivising sugarcane-derived ethanol, concerns remain about the water-guzzling nature of the sugarcane and fair remuneration for farmers. On November 2, the Centre, as part of its Ethanol Blending Programme, approved a higher price for ethanol that is derived from different sugarcane-based raw materials. This was done...

-ThePrint.in Procurement of rice stocks has seen a significant increase. But India is seeing deficient rains and increase of ethanol distilleries. The Narendra Modi government’s move to ban wheat export was followed by several other measures to conserve stocks, which were projected to deplete in 2022-23 on account of lower procurement in the central pool, continuation of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana up to September, and the possibility 5 million tonnes...

The transport sector is important for the smooth functioning of an economy. The supply chains for various products and by-products (both domestically as well as internationally) can work efficiently only if the transportation of raw materials and inputs, and final goods and commodities takes place without disruption.   Due to economic growth, India’s annual CO2 (i.e., carbon dioxide) emission has expanded from 1.19 billion tonnes in 2005 to 2.44 billion tonnes...

-Down to Earth Aggressive sugarcane farming contaminates land, water The Union government intends to increase the amount of ethanol in the energy mix to lower the country’s dependence on imported oil and carbon footprint, as well as stabilise petrol prices.  India currently blends about 8.5 per cent ethanol in petrol. The government is targeting a 10 per cent ethanol blend by 2022 and a 20 per cent blend (E20) by 2025. E20 can save...

-Newsclick.in Government must explore non-conventional resources to achieve energy security. Its current policy to blend ethanol and biodiesel helps the biofuel industry at the cost of food security. In a recent press conference, the Union Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said that in 2020-21 the Centre allocated about 78,000 tonnes of rice from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) stocks to distilleries to produce ethanol. The distilleries got rice at a subsidised Rs.20...