Indian biofuel industry worried GST will hit demand

In India, the biofuels industry worries that the government’s new Goods and Services Tax of 18% on both biodiesel and ethanol with stymie the government’s parallel policy of bolstering biofuel consumption in order to reduce fossil fuel imports. Biodiesel has been exempt of excise tax for the past decade and even VAT exempt in some states but other policies kept demand from taking off. Now that those policies have been lifted, biodiesel consumption is starting to increase but the industry fears the GST will kill any potential demand.