India shelves Brazil ethanol plans due to slowdown

Wednesday, 25 February 2009, 15:48 IST
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New Delhi: India's state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) have put on hold their plans to invest in ethanol projects in Brazil due to the current economic slowdown, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said here Tuesday. The oil marketing companies - Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp - had explored the possibilities of acquiring sugarcane farms and setting up ethanol manufacturing units in Brazil, Deora said while answering a question in the Rajya Sabha. He said the project was found to be feasible and strategically important for India's oil industry, but the financial meltdown threw a spanner in the investment plans. "In view of the economic slowdown and resource crunch, OMCs are not contemplating any investment in Brazil to set up an ethanol project at present. Further, the OMCs are not looking at import of ethanol from Brazil," Deora said.
Source: IANS
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