India Reviews US Plea to Lift Ethanol Import Curb

India is reviewing the United States' (US') request to lift restrictions on ethanol imports as it negotiates a wider trade deal with Washington to avoid punitive tariffs, news agency Bloomberg reported on Friday.

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The development was confirmed by senior industry officials, who added that the US was intensely lobbying for the same.

India at present does not allow imports of ethanol as fuel, and levies hefty duties on such imports for non-fuel purposes.

"Yes, the US has been lobbying for opening up ethanol imports for the past several weeks, but the request should not be heeded, or else all the investments made into putting up the domestic capacities for producing ethanol would come into question," a senior industry official said.