India set to implement E10 mandate from October, reducing up to $1.7 billion in forex for oil imports

In India, the government has announced an E10 blending mandate from October’s start of the 2015/16 cane crop in an effort to boost the economic viability of sugar mills that are currently drowning in debt due to high sugarcane prices, also mandated by the government. Demand will double to 2.3 billion liters from the current E5 level. As a result, sugar production should fall by around 1.5 million metric tons. McKinsey estimates that the policy could lead to savings of $1.7 billion a year of forex from avoided oil imports.