India: Confusion reigns supreme over biofuel policy

India’s biofuels policy is clearly suffering from a too-many-cooks syndrome, with multiple ministries holding divergent views on the basic contours of the policy.

“There is total confusion on the biofuels policy. Each ministry – petroleum and natural gas, new and renewable energy (MNES) and rural development (RD) – is carrying out its own programme,” a senior government official said.

“The confusion has resulted in the biofuels programme being delayed,” said the official.
There is confusion on timelines for implementation of the policy, as well as on the basics like imports. In a recent Cabinet note on biofuels, the petroleum ministry, which had earlier been stressing that indigenous production of biofuels was a focus of the policy, has reversed its stand and favoured import of ethanol and bio-diesel.

Business Standard