India's E20 Ethanol Blending Push: An Emerging Threat to Water Security <b><i>_{A Policy and Environmental Analysis}</i></b>

Abstract

India’s Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme reached its 20 percent blending target (E20) in 2025, five years ahead of the original 2030 deadline set under the National Policy on Biofuels. The achievement is widely presented as a triumph of energy security, import substitution, and rural income support. This paper argues that the programme’s rapid scale-up has proceeded largely without a corresponding water security assessment, even as India is classified as a water-stressed country with per-capita availability projected to fall further by mid-century. Drawing on government data, industry disclosures, and independent water-footprint studies, the paper documents the water intensity of principal ethanol feedstocks — sugarcane, maize, and rice — and shows that distillery clusters overlap substantially with regions already flagged as groundwater-critical by the Central Ground Water Board and NITI Aayog. It further examines the recent pivot toward grain-based ethanol, particularly maize, and the institutional and legal contestation the programme has attracted. The paper concludes with policy recommendations centred on feedstock-specific water footprinting, basin-level water budgeting, and regulatory zoning to reconcile India’s biofuel ambitions with long-term water security.