ABSTRACT
India currently produces 665 million litres of fuel ethanol annually, derived primarily from molasses from sugar production. Subsidies for using sweet sorghum as a feedstock are also being considered. The nation’s current sugar cane acreage is 4.4 million hectares, although the goal is to expand this slightly to 5 million hectares by 2007. Nine provinces currently have an official blending obligation of 5 per cent ethanol in gasoline. Production costs are currently around €0.36 (US$0.44) per litre, which is an average value from an international perspective.
