Indian government OKs up to 430,000 liters of ethanol production from sugarcane juice

In India, the Hindu Business Line newspaper reports the government may allow 280,000 liters of ethanol to be produced from sugarcane juice after banning its production earlier this month as it attempts to balance sugar production in light of a smaller cane crop. Already, about 150,000 liters has likely been produced before the Dec. 7 ban came into effect, leading to a total of 700,000 metric tons of would-be sugar instead becoming ethanol. Ethanol produced from heavy-B molasses will divert about 1 million tons of would-be sugar to fuel.