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Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Analysis-India's ethanol drive imperils its push for edible oil self-sufficiency
By Rajendra Jadhav NASHIK, India (Reuters) -India's drive to produce more ethanol is leading its farmers to switch away from growing oilseeds, undermining government efforts in the world's largest buyer of cooking oils to reduce costly imports. Helped by record corn and rice harvests, New Delhi is using more of the grains to make ethanol and meet its target of blending 20% of the biofuel additive with gasoline. The process, however, produces Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS), a protein-rich byproduct that is flooding the animal feed market. The DDGS glut is weakening demand for oilmeals, depressing oilseed prices and prompting farmers in the South Asian nation to plant more corn and rice in place of soybeans and groundnuts - despite New Delhi's push to grow more of the oilseeds to ease imports. DDGS production in India has soared some 13-fold over the past two years to an estimated 5.5 million tons by 2025, according to industry officials. "DDGS is a pain in the neck," said Aashish Acharya, vice president at Patanjali Foods Ltd, a leading soybean processor. "Feed makers are substituting oilmeals with DDGS since it is cheaper." The shift is visible in government sowing data. As of August 8, oilseed acreage - including soybean and groundnut - was down 4% from last year, while corn area jumped 10.5% to a record high. Madhukar Londhe, a farmer in Nashik in the western state of Maharashtra, said he had cut his soybean area to one acre from six, planting the rest with corn - which has the added benefit of providing fodder from its stalks for his five milking cows. Nearly two dozen farmers in the area that Reuters spoke to said they had made a similar switch. "Soybean prices were too low, so I couldn't even cover my costs in the past two years. Corn did better for me last year, so I've decided to grow more of it," Londhe said. RISING IMPORTS The reduction in oilseed planting is a concern for a country that spent more than $17 billion on edible oil imports last year and is making concerted efforts to reduce that dependence. Rising demand for fried foods and sweets by a growing and increasingly prosperous population has driven consistent growth in edible oil consumption at 3%-4% annually, said B.V. Mehta, executive director of the Solvent Extractors' Association of India. Edible oil imports have climbed to 16 million tons in 2023-24 from 4.4 million tons two decades ago, making India the world's largest buyer of vegetable oils such as palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia and soyoil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia, and Ukraine. New Delhi aims to boost domestic edible oil production to 25.45 million tons by 2030–31 from 12.7 million tons now, enough to meet 72% of projected demand, an effort that Mehta said is being hindered by the surge in DDGS supply. A New Delhi-based senior dealer with a global trading house who declined to be named as he is not authorised to speak with media said he expects imports to rise above 20 million tons in six or seven years, due in part to the DDGS disruption. Given the tightening global supplies of edible oils, India's additional imports will drive prices even higher, said a Kuala Lumpur-based official with a leading palm oil-producing company. MEAL GLUT, OIL DEFICIENCY India, the No. 3 importer and consumer of crude, recently hit its goal of lifting ethanol blending in gasoline to 20%. Two years ago, before India began using corn and rice on a large scale due to short supply of its main ethanol feedstock sugarcane, its blending rate was just 12%. Even before rising ethanol production began to create excess DDGS, India struggled with surplus oilmeals. Per capita demand for animal feed is much lower than the global average as a significant portion of its 1.4 billion population is vegetarian for religious and cultural reasons and most meat-eaters do so only occasionally. That led India to export surplus oilmeals to countries such as South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, and Bangladesh. However, oilmeal exports got tougher every year as prices rose in order to support oilseed farmers. This year, some countries that import Indian meal have committed to buying more from the U.S., meaning they will buy less from India, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading house. Ajay Jhunjhunwala, an oil miller in Lucknow in northern India, estimates that of this year's DDGS output, only around half will be consumed domestically. Exports are growing but are still relatively small. India's DDGS exports surged to 354,110 tons last year from just 16,556 tons in 2022. Distilleries are trying to export the surplus to markets including Bangladesh and Vietnam - longtime U.S. DDGS customers. Millers and distillers are pushing for incentives to facilitate exports of both oilmeals and DDGS. India's Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in July the government would support oilseed farmers by procuring their harvest at a state-fixed price. The Indian government did not respond to a request for comment on rising supplies of DDGS. "DDGS has exaggerated the problem of surplus meal," oil miller Jhunjhunwala said. "Unless that problem is fixed, increasing domestic oilseed production and edible oil supplies is difficult," he said.


Reuters
12-08-2025
- Business
- Reuters
India's ethanol drive imperils its push for edible oil self-sufficiency
NASHIK, India, Aug 12 (Reuters) - India's drive to produce more ethanol is leading its farmers to switch away from growing oilseeds, undermining government efforts in the world's largest buyer of cooking oils to reduce costly imports. Helped by record corn and rice harvests, New Delhi is using more of the grains to make ethanol and meet its target of blending 20% of the biofuel additive with gasoline. The process, however, produces Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS), a protein-rich byproduct that is flooding the animal feed market. The DDGS glut is weakening demand for oilmeals, depressing oilseed prices and prompting farmers in the South Asian nation to plant more corn and rice in place of soybeans and groundnuts - despite New Delhi's push to grow more of the oilseeds to ease imports. DDGS production in India has soared some 13-fold over the past two years to an estimated 5.5 million tons by 2025, according to industry officials. "DDGS is a pain in the neck," said Aashish Acharya, vice president at Patanjali Foods Ltd ( opens new tab, a leading soybean processor. "Feed makers are substituting oilmeals with DDGS since it is cheaper." The shift is visible in government sowing data. As of August 8, oilseed acreage - including soybean and groundnut - was down 4% from last year, while corn area jumped 10.5% to a record high. Madhukar Londhe, a farmer in Nashik in the western state of Maharashtra, said he had cut his soybean area to one acre from six, planting the rest with corn - which has the added benefit of providing fodder from its stalks for his five milking cows. Nearly two dozen farmers in the area that Reuters spoke to said they had made a similar switch. "Soybean prices were too low, so I couldn't even cover my costs in the past two years. Corn did better for me last year, so I've decided to grow more of it," Londhe said. The reduction in oilseed planting is a concern for a country that spent more than $17 billion on edible oil imports last year and is making concerted efforts to reduce that dependence. Rising demand for fried foods and sweets by a growing and increasingly prosperous population has driven consistent growth in edible oil consumption at 3%-4% annually, said B.V. Mehta, executive director of the Solvent Extractors' Association of India. Edible oil imports have climbed to 16 million tons in 2023-24 from 4.4 million tons two decades ago, making India the world's largest buyer of vegetable oils such as palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia and soyoil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia, and Ukraine. New Delhi aims to boost domestic edible oil production to 25.45 million tons by 2030–31 from 12.7 million tons now, enough to meet 72% of projected demand, an effort that Mehta said is being hindered by the surge in DDGS supply. A New Delhi-based senior dealer with a global trading house who declined to be named as he is not authorised to speak with media said he expects imports to rise above 20 million tons in six or seven years, due in part to the DDGS disruption. Given the tightening global supplies of edible oils, India's additional imports will drive prices even higher, said a Kuala Lumpur-based official with a leading palm oil-producing company. India, the No. 3 importer and consumer of crude, recently hit its goal of lifting ethanol blending in gasoline to 20%. Two years ago, before India began using corn and rice on a large scale due to short supply of its main ethanol feedstock sugarcane, its blending rate was just 12%. Even before rising ethanol production began to create excess DDGS, India struggled with surplus oilmeals. Per capita demand for animal feed is much lower than the global average as a significant portion of its 1.4 billion population is vegetarian for religious and cultural reasons and most meat-eaters do so only occasionally. That led India to export surplus oilmeals to countries such as South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, and Bangladesh. However, oilmeal exports got tougher every year as prices rose in order to support oilseed farmers. This year, some countries that import Indian meal have committed to buying more from the U.S., meaning they will buy less from India, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading house. Ajay Jhunjhunwala, an oil miller in Lucknow in northern India, estimates that of this year's DDGS output, only around half will be consumed domestically. Exports are growing but are still relatively small. India's DDGS exports surged to 354,110 tons last year from just 16,556 tons in 2022. Distilleries are trying to export the surplus to markets including Bangladesh and Vietnam - longtime U.S. DDGS customers. Millers and distillers are pushing for incentives to facilitate exports of both oilmeals and DDGS. India's Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in July the government would support oilseed farmers by procuring their harvest at a state-fixed price. The Indian government did not respond to a request for comment on rising supplies of DDGS. "DDGS has exaggerated the problem of surplus meal," oil miller Jhunjhunwala said. "Unless that problem is fixed, increasing domestic oilseed production and edible oil supplies is difficult," he said.


Reuters
07-08-2025
- Business
- Reuters
India's Bajaj Electricals posts quarterly profit plunge on weak demand, one-time charge
Aug 7 (Reuters) - India's Bajaj Electricals ( opens new tab reported a 96.8% slump in first-quarter profit on Thursday, hurt by lower demand for its home appliances and a one-off expense. The Bajaj Group company's net profit fell to 9.1 million rupees ($103,769.93) for the three months ended June 30, from 281.1 million rupees a year ago. The company incurred a one-time expense of 66.8 million rupees, related to ex gratia for the Nashik factory. Before the exceptional item, profit fell 76.7% in the quarter. Net sales fell 8.1% to 10.59 billion rupees. Revenue from its mainstay consumer segment, which sells products ranging from fans to induction stoves, slipped 10.8%. Bajaj Electrical's shares slipped 2.7% after the results. For further earnings highlights, click (Full Story) KEY CONTEXT Analysts said demand was weak for cooling appliances such as air coolers and fans — part of Bajaj Electricals' consumer durables segment — due to the early onset of monsoon. The consumer durables segment accounts for more than three-fourths of the company's total revenue. Last month, peer Havells India ( opens new tab reported first-quarter profit below analysts' estimates on subdued demand and heightened competition. PEER COMPARISON * The mean of analysts' ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell ** The ratio of the stock's last close to analysts' mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT APRIL-JUNE STOCK PERFORMANCE -- All data from LSEG -- $1 = 87.6940 Indian rupees


Reuters
04-08-2025
- Business
- Reuters
India's JSW Steel, Japan's JFE to invest $669 million to boost electrical steel output
Aug 4 (Reuters) - A joint venture between India's JSW Steel ( opens new tab and Japan's JFE Steel will invest 58.45 billion rupees ($669 million) to expand production capacity of cold rolled grain-oriented electrical steel across two Indian plants to meet growing domestic demand, JSW Steel said on Monday. JSW and JFE will equally fund a combined 19.66 billion rupees for the expansion through equity, JSW Steel said. The added capacity will be commissioned in phases from fiscal year 2028. The company did the specify the source of rest of the funds. Cold rolled grain-oriented electrical steel is mainly used in energy applications, and is considered to be more energy efficient, reducing carbon emissions. JSW JFE Electrical Steel will raise production of the steel at its Nashik plant to 250,000 tons per annum from the current 50,000 TPA, for which the two companies plan to invest 43 billion rupees. The companies will invest the remaining 15.45 billion rupees to augment capacity of an upcoming facility in Vijayanagar to 100,000 TPA from an originally planned 62,000 TPA, JSW Steel said in an exchange filing. JSW JFE's Nashik plant was bought in January from Germany's Thyssenkrupp ( opens new tab in a 41.59 billion rupee deal. ($1 = 87.4070 Indian rupees)


Entrepreneur
15-07-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Rise of Bharatpreneurs: Tier II and III Cities Account for 60% of BizDateUp's FY24-25 Investments
The company funded 21 startups during the fiscal year, of which 11 were led by entrepreneurs from smaller towns, with Nashik and Jaipur emerging as key innovation hubs. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. In a strong sign of India's evolving startup landscape, BizDateUp has revealed that 60 percent of its startup investments in the financial year 2024-25 were directed toward founders based in tier II and III cities. The company funded 21 startups during the fiscal year, of which 11 were led by entrepreneurs from smaller towns, with Nashik and Jaipur emerging as key innovation hubs. This shift marks a significant departure from the traditional metro-centric startup narrative. The rise of what many are calling "Bharatpreneurs" highlights the emergence of a new entrepreneurial wave that is flourishing beyond established urban centers such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi. "Our belief is simple—great ideas don't have pin codes," said Jeet Chandan, Managing Director at BizDateUp. "What we are seeing in Tier II and III cities is not just potential, but performance. These founders are solving real problems for real markets, with impressive capital efficiency." Chandan emphasized that 80 percent of the startups funded in these regions have already reached profitability or achieved key growth milestones. "Their hunger, resilience, and customer closeness give them an edge that's hard to replicate," he added. Examples of this shift include Square Insurance, based in Jaipur, which posted 650 percent in unrealised returns, and PDRL, a drone technology and SaaS firm from Nashik, which achieved 482 percent. These outcomes reflect not only strong business models but also the depth of local market insight these founders bring. "Tier II and III founders often bring sharper unit economics and a relentless drive to build sustainably," noted Meet Jain, CEO of BizDateUp. "Our role is not just to fund these ventures, but to actively support them through strategic guidance and business development." Jain cited companies like BattRE and Square Insurance, where BizDateUp's enablement efforts opened new revenue channels through strategic partnerships. He added that the platform's support goes beyond capital, offering mentorship, market access, and growth networks. As India positions itself as a global startup powerhouse, BizDateUp's investment strategy offers a compelling model of inclusive growth. By backing talent from every corner of the country, the firm is helping to redefine where innovation in India truly begins.