Having started bilateral talks to mutually resolve the pending sugar dispute at the WTO (World Trade Organisation), India and Brazil may also look at deepening existing cooperation. A government official told CNBC-TV18 that Brazil may share ethanol production technology with India as part of the solution, while terming the development as positive after several rounds of discussion were undertaken to resolve the dispute.
India is yet to offer something from its side as part of the negotiations.
In 2019, Australia, Brazil and Guatemala had filed a case against India at the WTO alleging that the export subsidies being offered on sugar were violative of WTO norms.
While WTO upheld the allegations imposed against India in December 2021, India's appeal before WTO's appellate body is yet to be decided as the body isn't functional.
At the 10th WTO ministerial in Nairobi, Kenya in 2015, export subsidies on agricultural products by developed countries were banned while developing countries were asked to phase them out by 2018.
India's former Ambassador to the WTO, Jayant Dasgupta has welcomed the move by both the countries to resolve the dispute as well as the ethanol production technology from Brazil as India aims to raise ethanol blending in fuel to reduce the dependence on fossil fuel and carbon emissions.
Describing the hybrid car engines technology as something that Brazil keeps close to its chest, he said that India may have to provide something else too as part of the dispute resolution apart from rolling back subsidies on sugar.
Noting that India can look at importing soybean which Brazil is a huge exporter of, he clarified that if India gives any concessions to Brazil it will have to give to others too as per the MFN (Most Favoured Nation) principle.
While Brazil is the largest producer & exporter of sugar in the world, India ranks second in sugar production globally. Being extensively used for blending with fuel, ethanol is being promoted by India to cut fuel imports and carbon emissions with a target of 20 percent ethanol-blended petrol by 2025.
Ethanol can be produced from sugarcane, broken rice, bagasse and agricultural waste.
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