India Biofuel : Present Outlook and Emerging Trends

India Embracing Biofuels for Greener Future

India is making huge strides in adopting biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels to meet its energy demands in a sustainable manner. With rising crude oil prices and environmental concerns around fossil fuels, biofuels are emerging as a promising eco-friendly option. The Government of India has introduced several policies and programs to boost the production and use of biofuels in the country.

Biofuels in India: Current Scenario

India currently produces around 6 billion litres of biofuels annually with ethanol and biodiesel being the major biofuels. Ethanol is mainly produced from molasses, a byproduct of sugarcane farming. The government has made it mandatory to blend 5% ethanol in petrol (E5) across the country. This has led to a rise in ethanol consumption from around 150 crore litres in 2013-14 to over 300 crore litres in 2020-21.

Biodiesel in India is mainly produced from non-edible oils like those derived from mahua, karanja and jatropha seeds. India's annual biodiesel production stands at around 100 crore litres currently. Biodiesel is blended in diesel only on a pilot basis as blending at the national level is yet to be implemented. Various Public Sector Undertakings like Indian Oil, BPCL and HPCL have set up biodiesel plants across the country.

Future of Biofuels in India

While ethanol blending has seen good progress, the government aims to increase this to 20% (E20) in the long run. This would require around 15000 crore litres of ethanol annually which is more than five times the current production capacity. The government plans to use alternative feedstocks like maize, sugarcane juice and sugar beet for ethanol production to scale up capacities.

For biodiesel, the target is to achieve a national blending target of 20% (B20) in the long term. The focus is on developing sustainable feedstock supply chains for non-edible oilseeds and used cooking oil. Researchers are also exploring the potential of algae-based biofuels which do not require agricultural land. Various pilot projects on algae biodiesel and biojet fuels are currently underway across India.

Policy Support for Biofuels

The Government of India has rolled out several progressive policies to boost the biofuel sector:

- National Biofuel Policy, 2018 - Lays out clear targets for ethanol blending and highlights plans to ramp up biodiesel production.

- Remote Area Subsidy Scheme - Provides financial incentives to biofuel producers in remote/hilly areas.

- Interest Subvention Scheme - Offers lower rate of interest on loans for biofuel plants and equipment.

- Production Linked Incentive Scheme - Provides Rs.9000 crore incentive for manufacturing biofuels and their components domestically.

- Tax benefits - 0% Goods and Services Tax on ethanol meant for blending with petrol. Import duty waived for biodiesel production plant equipment.

- Research funding - Plan outlay of Rs.700 crores for 2021-26 under the National Bioenergy Mission.

With strong policy backing, the industrial and agricultural sectors have shown keen interest in biofuel production. Many large sugar and oilseed processing companies have expanded into ethanol and biodiesel production respectively.

Challenges Ahead

While the progress has been encouraging, India still faces challenges in achieving its long term biofuel targets:

- Limited availability of non-food feedstocks: Dedicated energy crops have yet to scale up sufficiently. Dependency on molasses and other food-based feedstocks restricts capacities.

- Inconsistent supply of biofuels: Seasonal agriculture leads to irregular supplies, affecting blending operations.

- High capital costs: Setting up commercial scale integrated biofuel plants requires huge capital investments and long payback periods.

- Technology gaps: Technologies for advanced biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass or algae need further research and development.

- Infrastructure barriers: Limited depots and transport facilities hinder last mile delivery of blended fuels across the country.

The government will need to address these issues through innovative agriculture practices, subsidized finance models and supportive infrastructure development to realize India's biofuel potential over the next decade. With proactive policies and public-private cooperation, India is poised to transition towards a more bioenergy-based economy.




Explorer more information on this topic, Please visit @ https://www.coherentmi.com/industry-reports/india-biofuels-market

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