A new report published by the international research and advocacy organization GRAIN has warned that the global resurgence of biofuels is triggering a dangerous dynamic of “more fuel, less food, more land grabs.” Driven by intersecting energy security concerns, geopolitical tensions, and aggressive decarbonization mandates, the expanding agrofuel industry is increasingly pitting corporate energy interests against global food security and indigenous land rights.
This global shift, suggests the report, carries profound and immediate implications for India, where aggressive ethanol blending mandates are already diverting millions of tonnes of rice and maize away from public food reserves and livestock feed, raising urgent alarms about domestic food inflation, severe water stress, and the nation's long-term nutritional security.
The report, titled “The biofuel comeback: more fuel, less food, more land grabs,” highlights that global biofuel production has increased by more than half over the last decade, reaching 192 billion litres in 2024. With global demand projected to skyrocket by 70% by 2030, the expansion is heavily concentrated in the hands of a few corporate giants—including POET, Valero Energy, ADM, Wilmar, and Neste—who control vast segments of the bioethanol, biodiesel, and renewable diesel markets.
While governments frame biofuels as a critical tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in hard-to-abate sectors like aviation and shipping, the report argues that the reality on the ground tells a different story.
“Ninety percent of biofuels are produced from food-related crops,” the report notes, warning that current policies will lead to bioethanol consuming 7% of global cereal production and 22% of global vegetable oil production by 2035. This diversion is already exacerbating food price volatility, particularly in regions highly vulnerable to hunger, it claims.
The push for feedstock is also fueling a new wave of land dispossession. According to the report, in Indonesia’s Papua region, nearly three million hectares of indigenous land are slated for conversion into oil palm and sugarcane plantations under a rebranded “national strategic plan,” backed by military deployment. Similar large-scale land grabs are reported in Brazil’s Cerrado region and the Republic of the Congo, where energy majors are securing vast tracts of land for feedstock cultivation, often displacing local food production and violating community rights.
Furthermore, the report draws attention to flaws in “sustainable” biofuel certifications. Investigations reveal that European companies, seeking to meet stringent Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) targets, have imported palm oil fraudulently certified as used cooking oil or palm oil mill effluent (POME) from Southeast Asia and China.
“Biofuels are not only fuelling the food crisis. They are also undermining real solutions to the climate crisis,” the report alleges, citing estimates that, when indirect land-use change and deforestation are factored in, global biofuels emit 16% more CO₂ than the fossil fuels they are supposed to replace.
The report calls for a fundamental shift away from corporate-driven energy solutions, urging governments to prioritize localized, agroecological farming systems that do not create “sacrifice zones” for vulnerable communities or endanger global food security.
India finds itself at a critical and controversial crossroads in the global biofuel boom, the report indicates. While the government champions its ethanol blending program as a triumph of energy independence and rural economic revitalization, the GRAIN report highlights severe, systemic risks to the country’s food security, agricultural ecology, and water resources.
Here are the key implications for India based on the report’s findings:
1. The "Food vs. Fuel" Dilemma and Rising Hunger Risks
India’s aggressive push for biofuels starkly contrasts with its domestic food security realities. The report points out that India ranks 102nd out of 123 countries in the 2025 Global Hunger Index. Despite this, national policy increasingly prioritizes energy security over nutritional security. The government’s energy security policy explicitly allows the production of bioethanol from surplus stocks of rice and maize managed by the Food Corporation of India (FCI), effectively diverting public food reserves to fuel tanks.
2. Massive Diversion of Rice and Maize
The scale of grain diversion for ethanol is accelerating rapidly. In 2026, 7.2 million tonnes of rice were earmarked for ethanol manufacturers from FCI stocks—a 2 million tonne increase from the previous year. Additionally, 5.5 million tonnes of broken rice, traditionally a staple for midday meal and public ration schemes, was authorized for sale via electronic auctions with unrestricted access for ethanol producers. Meanwhile, the use of maize for fuel has surged from 0.8 million tonnes in 2022–23 to an estimated 12.8 million tonnes in 2024–25, meaning a third of India’s total maize production is now being used for fuel.
3. India Becomes a Net Maize Importer
This domestic diversion of maize has created a severe supply shock. Maize is a crucial staple in many tribal regions and the primary ingredient for poultry and dairy animal feed. The biofuel boom has driven up feed costs and forced India to become a net importer of maize for the first time in decades. Imports skyrocketed from 137,000 tonnes in 2023–24 to nearly 1 million tonnes in 2024–25. The report aptly describes this dynamic as “effectively taxing nutrition to subsidise energy security.”
4. Agricultural Distortion and Crop Squeezing
Government subsidies and price guarantees for maize and sugarcane destined for bioethanol are distorting agricultural markets. Farmers are incentivized to shift away from growing pulses, oilseeds, and coarse cereals. This acreage squeeze threatens to worsen India’s historical dependency on edible oil imports and undermines the nutritional diversity of the national diet. Currently, rice and maize together account for 61% of the bioethanol produced in the country.
5. Looming Land and Water Crises
The physical footprint of India’s biofuel ambition is immense, with the report estimating that India’s E20 mandate will require an additional 7 million hectares of land. This expansion is already triggering grassroots resistance. For instance, in the Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan, communities are actively protesting against Dune Ethanol Pvt Ltd over a massive proposed ethanol plant that threatens to deplete 6,000 kilolitres of groundwater daily in a water-stressed region while processing nearly one million tonnes of grain. Similar protests are emerging in Chhattisgarh, India's "rice bowl," where 34 new ethanol plants and 11 distilleries are planned.
6. Corporate Consolidation and Geopolitical Pressures
The report explicitly identifies the corporate beneficiaries anchoring India’s biofuel sector, highlighting a powerful mix of state-owned enterprises and private agribusinesses. Key domestic players include state-owned Indian Oil Corporation Limited and Bharat Petroleum Corporation, alongside major private entities such as Balrampur Chini Mills, the Emami Group, and Praj Industries. The report also notes the deepening footprint of multinational agribusiness giant Wilmar, which operates in the Indian biofuel space through its stake in Shree Renuka Sugars. Furthermore, India’s policy is not being formulated in a vacuum; the report warns that the US is actively using trade agreements and tariff threats to pressure countries into adopting blending mandates that favor US biofuel exports, adding geopolitical complexity to India’s domestic market capture by these large corporations.
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