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By:

Rajendra Joshi

3 December 2024 at 3:50:26 am

Beyond Ethanol: The Bigger Story Is India's Innovation Journey

Ethanol is one of many stepping stones on the journey towards cleaner energy systems. Energy transitions are rarely linear. Every major technological shift begins as an alternative, matures through public policy and market acceptance, and is eventually challenged by newer innovation. The debate surrounding ethanol-blended petrol in India should therefore be viewed through this larger prism rather than through the narrow lens of partisan politics. Since the National Biofuel Policy was unveiled...

Beyond Ethanol: The Bigger Story Is India's Innovation Journey

Ethanol is one of many stepping stones on the journey towards cleaner energy systems. Energy transitions are rarely linear. Every major technological shift begins as an alternative, matures through public policy and market acceptance, and is eventually challenged by newer innovation. The debate surrounding ethanol-blended petrol in India should therefore be viewed through this larger prism rather than through the narrow lens of partisan politics. Since the National Biofuel Policy was unveiled in 2018, India's ethanol blending programme has expanded with little political resistance. Brazil's four decades of experience with ethanol as a transport fuel partly inspired the policy. It sought to reduce dependence on imported crude oil, improve energy security, curb vehicular emissions and provide an additional revenue stream for sugarcane farmers. Those objectives remain largely unchanged. Yet, in recent months, ethanol has unexpectedly become a subject of political confrontation. The irony is striking. At precisely the moment the country is debating the merits of one transition fuel, Indian scientists and engineers are demonstrating technologies that could redefine the next generation of clean mobility. The inauguration of India's first hydrogen-powered passenger train marks one such milestone. Flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the 89-kilometre Jind-Sonipat route in Haryana, the train employs indigenous hydrogen fuel-cell technology to generate electricity, with water as the only emission. The project reduces the carbon footprint of rail transport and places India among a handful of countries experimenting with hydrogen-powered railway systems. Equipped with a 3,200-horsepower engine and ten coaches, it is also among the world's most powerful hydrogen trains. The significance of this development extends beyond railways. It signals the direction in which transport technology is headed. If July has been remarkable for clean mobility, it has been equally significant for India's space ambitions. Private space startup Skyroot Aerospace successfully launched its indigenously developed orbital launch vehicle, Vikram-1, under the mission Aagman. It marked the first successful attempt by an Indian private company to place a payload into orbit using its own launch vehicle. The achievement underlines the transformation underway in India's innovation ecosystem. Until recently, space exploration remained the exclusive domain of government agencies. Opening the sector to private enterprise has created opportunities that are already attracting international commercial interest. It is a reminder that policy reforms often create the conditions for technological breakthroughs. A similar story is unfolding in the electric vehicle sector. Bengaluru-based startup Vemag Labs has reportedly developed a technology that eliminates dependence on rare-earth permanent magnets used in electric motors. If commercialised, the innovation could reduce reliance on China's dominance of the global rare-earth supply chain—a longstanding strategic vulnerability for the automotive industry. These are not isolated success stories. They represent a broader pattern in India's technological evolution. Artificial intelligence is reshaping the global digital economy. Battery technologies continue to evolve. Hydrogen is emerging as the next frontier of clean transportation, while advanced nuclear technologies are receiving renewed attention. Scientific progress is compressing technological cycles so that today's breakthrough may become tomorrow's baseline. In this context, ethanol should be seen neither as the ultimate solution nor as a policy failure. It is a transitional technology—an important bridge between conventional fossil fuels and cleaner energy systems. It has helped lower crude oil imports, strengthened the rural economy through higher demand for agricultural feedstock and contributed to India's climate commitments. Equally, it has technological, economic and environmental limitations that future innovations may overcome. The real concern arises when scientific progress becomes captive to political narratives. Democratic scrutiny of public policy is both necessary and desirable. Governments must justify investments, evaluate costs and remain accountable for outcomes. But reducing every technological intervention to political binaries risks distracting attention from the larger national objective of building scientific capability and technological competitiveness. The trajectory of innovation suggests that tomorrow's public debate may no longer revolve around ethanol. It may centre on hydrogen-powered vehicles, synthetic fuels, next-generation batteries or technologies still confined to research laboratories. Public policy must therefore remain flexible enough to adapt to continuous scientific change rather than become entrenched in ideological positions. India's hydrogen train, its privately developed orbital rocket and advances in electric mobility together illustrate an important reality. The country's scientific ecosystem is entering a phase of rapid expansion, with innovation increasingly driven by collaboration between public institutions, private enterprise and research startups. Politics has every right to question policy. It should not, however, become an obstacle to scientific progress. History shows that societies which embrace innovation invariably lead the next wave of economic growth, while those trapped in ideological contests often find themselves catching up. The future of mobility will ultimately be determined not in television studios or political rallies, but in laboratories, research institutions and technology startups. India's challenge is not merely to participate in that future—it is to help shape it. (The writer is a senior journalist based in Kolhapur. Views personal.)

Crude Reality

Since the Iran crisis erupted five months ago and sent tremors through global energy markets, India’s motorists have been spared the full force of the oil shock. Despite a hike, petrol pumps have generally continued to display familiar prices even as crude surged, because state-owned oil companies quietly absorbed the damage.


However, with losses now piling up at Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), it appears that the bill, which had been deferred all this while, cannot be avoided. Unless global crude prices retreat sharply, Indian consumers may soon feel the full force of the unabating West Asian crisis.


HPCL plunged into a consolidated loss of Rs. 12,265 crore in the June quarter, while BPCL reported a loss of Rs. 3,962 crore - the first quarterly loss for the latter in 15 quarters.


The crisis has exposed that India’s fuel-price stability remains heavily dependent on the financial health of state-run oil companies. When global markets turn hostile, these companies are expected to sacrifice margins, protect consumers and absorb geopolitical shocks. This model becomes increasingly fragile when crises become prolonged.


Crude oil prices briefly approached $125 a barrel during the height of the West Asia conflict, rising more than 50 percent as fears grew over supply disruptions. Though petrol and diesel prices were eventually raised by more than Rs 7.50 per litre and domestic LPG prices by Rs. 89 per cylinder, the adjustments came too late and were insufficient. Government estimates suggest oil marketing companies have accumulated under-recoveries of around Rs. 75,000 crore during the Iran crisis.


HPCL’s refining business in fact had delivered an impressive gross refining margin of $23.80 per barrel in the first quarter, compared with just $3.08 a year earlier. Yet those gains were wiped out by losses in fuel marketing. BPCL faced a similar squeeze. Higher revenues of Rs. 1.59 lakh crore during the quarter could not compensate for suppressed margins and LPG losses.


This is the familiar political dilemma of fuel pricing. Governments fear the inflationary consequences of raising prices sharply, especially in an economy where transport costs influence everything from food prices to manufacturing expenses. But delaying adjustments merely shifts it from consumers to public-sector balance sheets.


The consequences are already visible. HPCL reported LPG under-recoveries of Rs. 3,607 crore, while BPCL recorded losses of Rs. 3,485 crore on LPG sales. Both companies also face thousands of crores in unpaid subsidy dues.


If global crude prices remain elevated, the pressure valve will eventually have to open. Either the government compensates oil companies through larger subsidies by squeezing public finances or consumers face higher fuel prices. India has long benefited from relatively stable domestic fuel prices despite global volatility. But energy markets do not respect political calendars.

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