Ethanol Blending Programme: The Ripples It Could Have

Ethanol blending programme may reduce fossil fuel imports but could cause water shortage for water-intensive crops like maize, rice, and sugarcane.

Maize production jumped over 63% to 55.09 million tonnes in 2025–26 from 33 million tonnes in 2021–22, partly to meet ethanol demand.

One litre of ethanol requires about 7–10 million litres of water, and many ethanol plants fail to comply with zero liquid discharge mandates.

Area under sugarcane rose to 5.9 million hectares in 2026 from 5.7 million hectares a year earlier, driven by ethanol program incentives.

Reservoir levels dropped to 38.37% of live storage capacity (70.432 billion cubic meters) as of July 23, 2026, down from 110.519 billion cubic meters a year ago.