Indian ethanol production seen rising to 9 billion liters in two years

In India, the Economic Times newspaper reports that the government aims for ethanol production to jump to 9 billion liters in the next two years from the current 3.55 billion liters in order to significantly reduce fossil fuel imports. Permission for 362 new ethanol plants producing 5.5 billion liters of ethanol annually has been granted which would divert as much as 800,000 metric tons of sugar production per season, but financing for the new facilities have been challenging as sugar mills continue to suffer from poor financial returns.