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India needs to learn from Brazil’s successes as it prepares a significant scale-up of ethanol production and blending, according to a report in Fortune India.
The article recounts Brazil’s rise to become an ethanol powerhouse in the 1970s, beginning with the Proalcool program, which was designed to wean the country off oil imports and create a domestic ethanol industry based on sugarcane. It required the government establishing regulatory frameworks, research institutions and subsidies that led to a sharp increase in ethanol production and the development of ethanol-powered vehicles.
The Indian government, earlier this year, announced it had achieved its goal of mixing 20% ethanol into gasoline five years ahead of schedule, AP reported. India, the world’s most populous country, has joined Brazil, Japan and Italy to promote ethanol and other biofuels as part of the so-called Belem 4X pledge to quadruple sustainable fuel production and use by 2035.
The Fortune India article said the country’s ethanol production capacity has reached 1.8 million liters annually, supporting producers of both grain and sugarcane. Unlike Brazil, which tapped into its huge sugarcane crops, India needs broad-based feedstocks through heavy investment in grain-based ethanol, including corn, rice and surplus food grains, the article said.
Strong September jobs report
The U.S. government continues to play catch-up when it comes to key data releases. On Thursday, it unveiled the September jobs report, which showed the U.S. economy added a larger-than-expected 119,000 jobs. For investors it was a welcome glimpse into where the economy stood in September but didn’t offer much in the way of guidance about current conditions. It’s also unlikely to provide much help to Federal Reserve officials, who appear sharply divided over whether to deliver another rate cut in December or hold off amid concerns about sticky, above-target inflation.