Haribhau Bagde says ethanol can insulate India from global petroleum shocks; Maharashtra leaders link biofuel expansion to sugar-mill viability, farmer payments and rural incomes
MUMBAI : “Sugarcane fields should be like wells and reservoirs of ethanol. We must lead the world,” Rajasthan Governor Haribhau Bagde said in Mumbai on Monday, making a strong case for expanding India’s ethanol economy as a buffer against volatile global petroleum markets and geopolitical disruptions. Addressing the Bharat Ethanol Forum and allied conferences, Bagde argued that ethanol should be viewed not merely as an additive to petrol but as part of a wider strategy connecting energy security with agriculture, sugar-industry viability and rural incomes.
A former Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly with experience of the cooperative sugar sector, Bagde said sugar factories could no longer remain economically dependent on sugar alone. “Their viability depends on value-added by-products,” he said, pointing to the progression from sugar production to cogeneration, distilleries and ethanol manufacturing. Bagde recalled the early phase of India’s ethanol-blending programme and the pilot initiative at Manmad in Maharashtra. Official petroleum ministry records show that oil marketing companies commissioned three pilot projects for ethanol-blended petrol in 2001, followed by the Ethanol Blended Petrol programme from January 2003 and wider E5 implementation in subsequent years. Press Information Bureau
From fuel imports to farm incomes
The policy significance of the debate has increased as India’s ethanol programme has expanded rapidly. Government data show average blending rising from about 1.53% in 2013-14 to 20% during November 2025-June 2026. Press Information Bureau Bagde said ethanol could be produced not only from sugarcane juice and molasses but also from maize and agricultural residues, expanding the potential connection between India’s energy market and its agricultural economy. Maharashtra Cooperation Minister Babasaheb Patil similarly linked ethanol production with the economics of the state’s sugar industry, arguing that diversification could strengthen factory finances and improve their capacity to make timely payments to sugarcane growers. He also presented ethanol and alternative fuels as part of the response to urban air pollution and carbon emissions.
Pasha Patel takes on ethanol critics
Pasha Patel, Chairman of the Maharashtra State Agricultural Price Commission and Executive Chairman of the Chief Minister’s Environment and Sustainable Development Task Force, used a sharper political formulation, accusing critics of ethanol of spreading misinformation. Referring sarcastically to an “Ethanol Janta Party”, Patel urged ethanol producers to respond publicly to claims questioning the fuel. Patel also invoked India’s longer history of experiments with what was once called “power alcohol” and argued that the country’s ethanol potential had remained underdeveloped for decades.
However, the institutional history is more complex than Patel’s political formulation suggested. India’s present ethanol-blending programme predates the Narendra Modi government: pilot projects began in 2001, the programme formally took shape in the early 2000s, E5 expanded in 2006 and another policy framework was notified in 2013. The major acceleration came after 2014, including expansion of permissible feedstocks and production capacity and the 2018 National Policy on Biofuels. Press Information Bureau That distinction is important because the ethanol debate now concerns not whether India should have a blending programme, but how far it should expand, what feedstocks should support it and how the costs and benefits are distributed among motorists, farmers, sugar mills, grain producers and the petroleum sector.
Also Read: Pasha Patel Pushes Farm-Grown Biofuels, Says Bamboo Can Cut India’s Fossil-Fuel Dependence
Turmeric economy enters the discussion
A second agricultural value-chain issue emerged at the Global Turmeric Conclave held alongside the ethanol forum. Hemant Patil, MLC and Chairman of the Balasaheb Thackeray Haridra (Turmeric) Research Centre, said turmeric grown around Hingoli, Nanded, Parbhani and neighbouring districts had historically been marketed through the better-established Sangli market identity. He said the development of research infrastructure and geographical recognition could now help producers capture more value locally. There is a concrete basis for that argument: Vasmat Haldi (Turmeric) is a registered Geographical Indication, with the registration certificate issued on March 30, 2024 and protection currently valid until October 19, 2031. Intellectual Property India Patil said the research centre was seeking to strengthen the regional turmeric value chain through research, processing and marketing.
The larger question: who captures the value?
Taken together, the ethanol and turmeric discussions point to a larger agricultural-policy question for Maharashtra: whether farm produce can generate substantially more income when processing, energy conversion, branding and value addition occur closer to where the crop is grown. For sugarcane, the proposition is to move beyond sugar into ethanol, electricity and other by-products. For maize and agricultural residues, the expanding biofuel market could create additional demand. For turmeric, geographical identity, processing and branding could determine whether growers retain more of the final market value. The policy challenge, therefore, extends beyond increasing production. It is whether the emerging value chains can translate into stable farm-gate demand, economically viable processing capacity and measurable gains in farmer income.
