India’s ethanol story should not stop at the E20 blending target, the industry says. The next phase must build a wider market for the fuel the blending mandate helped create. In an analysis for The Hindu BusinessLine, the president of the Grain Ethanol Manufacturers Association argues that clear policy created the E20 market, and unlocked capacity and investment. The next framework must give investors similar visibility on where ethanol demand will come from over the next decade. Road transport need not remain ethanol’s only large market. Sustainable aviation fuel and bio-based chemicals can create new opportunities where technology and economics support commercial scale, the piece says. The government is already signalling that direction. Minister of State Suresh Gopi told the Rajya Sabha in July that ethanol capacity of about 2,000 crore litres a year has been built to support higher blends, flex-fuel vehicles and future biofuel uses. An Economic Times report says the Centre is working on a framework for ethanol as cooking fuel, with ethanol ATMs and dedicated stoves. A KPMG paper calls E20 an inflection point, not the finish line. It proposes higher blends such as E22-E30 and flex-fuel options like E85 and E100.