Indian ethanol demand seen eating down sugar surplus in next few years

In India, Reuters reports that the head of Godavari Biorefineries believes the government’s policy to promote higher ethanol production and consumption will eat away at the country’s sugar surplus in the next two to three years. Excess sugar production together with high costs of production have led to surpluses over the past several seasons while it has taken several years for Indian sugar mills to be sufficiently incentivized to boost ethanol production in the face of negative balance sheets. The government has recently rolled back the 20% blending mandate to 2025 from 2030 previously.