Wedoany.com Report-Dec.29, U.S. fuel ethanol exports to India are expected to achieve a second consecutive year of growth in 2025, potentially reaching a record high. Fuel ethanol, a renewable fuel primarily produced in the U.S. from biomass feedstocks like corn, is widely used not only as a gasoline additive but also in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries.

Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that from January to September 2025, U.S. ethanol exports to India reached approximately 3.539 million barrels, averaging over 393,000 barrels per month. This figure has already surpassed the total annual exports to India in both 2022 and 2023. Industry analysts and traders anticipate that the total export volume for 2025 will exceed the levels seen in 2020, 2021, and 2024.

The growth in exports also reflects an overall increase in India's energy imports from the United States. Previously, India imported about $12 to $13 billion worth of energy annually from the U.S. New Delhi expects to further increase imports by a similar magnitude each year in the future to help balance bilateral trade.

In a report last November, the U.S. Energy Information Administration noted that India is one of its primary export destinations for fuel ethanol. The report analyzed that although India prohibits the use of imported ethanol to meet its blending targets under its Ethanol Blending Programme, it still imports ethanol for industrial use. This allows more domestically produced ethanol to be allocated for blending into transportation fuels. The agency stated: "Due to recent declines in sugarcane and rice production, India is increasingly relying on imported U.S. fuel ethanol to meet industrial sector demand, thereby freeing up domestic ethanol production capacity to achieve blending targets."

According to the Indian government's plan, its goal is to achieve an average national ethanol blending rate of 20% by the end of the 2025-26 ethanol supply year. This target was preliminarily achieved in November 2025.