Government of India worried Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh’s ethanol levies will stymie blending mandate

In India, AsiaNet reports the Government of India is concerned that Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh have all put on additional levies to ethanol which could negatively impact the goal to increase ethanol blending. Legal and policy concerned are also raised because ethanol is subject to GST. The Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has written to all three states in March, April and May highlighting how the new levies could impede the free movement of ethanol and requested them to remove those new state-level policies, but the issues have yet to be resolved, despite concerns also being sourced by ethanol manufacturers.