As part of efforts to settle a sugar-related dispute between the two nations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Brazil has offered to share its ethanol production technology with India, an official said.
The South American country said in its proposal that India would be able to use its surplus sugar supply to produce ethanol with the aid of ethanol production technologies. The offer may enable India to utilise its surplus sugar production and mitigate rivalry with Brazil in the world sugar market.
Brazil is the largest producer and exporter of sugarcane in the world and also the largest producer of ethanol as well as a leader in the technology used for ethanol production. While India is the world’s second-largest producer. Furthermore, India may gain from the idea since it intends to lessen reliance on imported crude oil and progressively raise the proportion of ethanol blended into petroleum-based vehicle fuels.
Meanwhile, the official stated that Brazil's flex technology will tremendously benefit India, referring to the low-cost, simple technological innovation known as the "flex engine," which has been popularised in Brazil since 2003 and provided the ethanol economy a boost once more.
Simultaneously, Brazil has argued that India may use its surplus sugar to produce ethanol, thus solving its fuel crisis. Furthermore, the excess sugar would not be traded internationally or impact world prices. As a result, the proposal has been made and discussions are underway, said the official.
Brazil, Australia, and Guatemala dragged India into the WTO's dispute resolution process in 2019 on the grounds that New Delhi's support programmes, like the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for sugarcane farmers, contravene international trade agreements. Later, on December 14, 2021, the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement panel rendered a decision against India.
The WTO's appellate body, which has the final say over decisions on these disputes, received an appeal from India in January 2022 challenging the panel's decision. However, years of US pressure have caused the international trade appeals system to reach a breaking point.