US-headed renewable natural gas and biofuels company Aemetis Inc., has announced that its its Universal Biofuels subsidiary in India secured allocations of approximately US$24 million for the supply of more than 27 million liters of biodiesel to India’s three government-owned Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) for the period ending March 2026.
Additional OMC fuel supply orders are expected throughout the year to support the Government of India’s goal of increasing biodiesel blending, from a 1 percent biodiesel blend to a targeted 5 percent, as stated in the current National Policy on Biofuels.
Universal Biofuels and other biodiesel producers look forward to continuous support from the government of India to build and expand a healthy biodiesel industry,” stated Sanjeev Duggal, CEO of Universal Biofuels.
Plans for expansion and diversification
The Universal Biofuels subsidiary of Aemetis is one of the largest biodiesel producers in India and has been operational for over 17 years.
Universal Biofuels has significantly expanded the production capacity of its Kakinada biodiesel plant to 80 million gallons per year, including an expansion of its proprietary enzymatic process to produce lower-carbon-intensity biodiesel at a lower cost.
Universal Biofuels is exploring opportunities to expand to other locations across India, including diversifying into the production of other renewable fuels, such as dairy biogas, ethanol, and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
To support this growth, Universal Biofuels is preparing to undertake an Initial Public Offering (IPO) for the sale of a minority equity stake to public investors on the Indian stock exchange, subject to continued favorable market conditions.
In the past five years, India rapidly grew from about a 1 percent blend to a 20 percent blend of ethanol into gasoline. The Indian government’s 5 percent biodiesel blending target of more than 1.2 billion gallons per year requires rapid expansion of biodiesel blending from the current levels of less about 1 percent biodiesel blending. Our Universal Biofuels subsidiary has a long and successful track record of producing and delivering high-quality renewable fuels and pharma-grade glycerin from our India plant, said Eric McAfee, Chairman and CEO of Aemetis.
