India seeks to expand biofuels market to US$7.5bil by 2022

NEW DELHI: India is targeting a more than seven-fold expansion in its biofuels market over the next six years, stepping up the country’s efforts to cut its reliance on energy imports.

Blending 5% of biodiesel with regular diesel and 10% ethanol with gasoline could boost the market to 500 billion rupees (US$7.5bil) by 2022, from about 65 billion rupees now, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan (pic) said yesterday. India would require 6.75 billion litres of biodiesel and 4.5 billion litres of ethanol for blending over the six years, he said.