Insights
Insights
Research and analysis on Indian industry, energy, trade and investment, published on our blog Masala Deutsch.
From the blog
Most read on Masala Deutsch
Ranked by reader engagement, last 90 days.
- 01
India Mineral-Oil (HSN Ch.27) Trade × Pricing Dashboard
Trade & Tariffs
- 02
Blending on a Budget: Energy Density and Cost Per Kilometre, Across Four Fuel Pairs
Energy & Fuels
- 03
The Milk India Doesn't Drink: Cheese and the Value-Added Dairy Opportunity
Food Processing
- 04
Global Biofuels M&A: A Bankruptcy, a Bolt-On, and Where the Capital Is Actually Going
Corporate Finance & M&A
- 05
The Grain Value Loop — Integrated Rice Biorefinery Pitch
Energy & Fuels
- 06
Guar Gum: India's $3.5 Billion Export Peak, the Crash After, and Why the Crop Still Makes Sense on Poor Soil
India Trade & Policy
- 07
Where India's Factories Actually Get Built — IEM State & Sector Analysis
Industrial Policy
- 08
India's Ethanol Surplus Buys About Five Blend Points. E30, Diesel and Jet Fuel Need Twice the Supply.
Ethanol & Biofuels
Library
Key insights by theme
Theme 01
Industrial policy & incentives
Where India's Factories Actually Get Built — IEM State & Sector Analysis
DPIIT's Industrial Entrepreneurs Memoranda, Part A (intent filed) vs Part B (implemented), broken down by state and by sector.
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IEM Conversion — A Historical Performance Review (2017–2025)
Every year of DPIIT's Industrial Entrepreneurs Memoranda since 2017: how much investment intent was filed versus how much actually got built.
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Priority Export Destinations by Growth Sector, & Real PLI Coverage
Maps the 12 fastest-growing, highest-value export chapters to their top destinations, and checks how much of each the PLI schemes really cover.
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Priority Trade Partners by Import-Growth Sector, & Real PLI Coverage
Maps the 12 fastest-growing import chapters to their top supplier countries, and where PLI coverage actually reaches.
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Theme 02
Energy, fuels & biofuels
Blending on a Budget: Energy Density and Cost Per Kilometre, Across Four Fuel Pairs
Ethanol in petrol and isobutanol in diesel both carry less energy than the fuel they replace. What that does to cost per kilometre across four blending mandates.
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India's Ethanol Surplus Buys About Five Blend Points. E30, Diesel and Jet Fuel Need Twice the Supply.
1,776 crore litres offered against a need of about 1,050 in 2025-26 — yet the surplus covers only about five more points of petrol blending.
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Ethanol Blending & the OMC Books — E20 today vs E30 + SGST
Every litre of ethanol swaps a high-tax petrol litre for a lightly taxed one, reshaping oil-marketer margins, the exchequer and the export book.
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The Grain Value Loop — Integrated Rice Biorefinery Pitch
An integrated rice biorefinery that turns byproducts the government already procures into edible oil, food-grade derivatives and fuel.
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Theme 03
Trade & tariffs
India Mineral-Oil (HSN Ch.27) Trade × Pricing Dashboard
The trade and duty picture for base oil and other Chapter 27 mineral-oil lines.
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Guar Gum: India's $3.5 Billion Export Peak, the Crash After, and Why the Crop Still Makes Sense on Poor Soil
India supplies roughly 80% of the world's guar gum. The boom, the crash, and why the crop still suits arid, low-fertility land.
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Where India's Forex Goes — Country Deficits & a Decade of Policy History
India's FY2025-26 bilateral trade balance ranked by partner country, and the policy history behind the largest deficits.
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Five-Year Synthesis: Trade, Currency & Policy, FY2021-22 to FY2025-26
Trade totals, goods versus services, currency and policy, re-cut to one consistent five-year window.
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Theme 04
Agriculture & food processing
The Milk India Doesn't Drink: Cheese and the Value-Added Dairy Opportunity
India made 247.87 million tonnes of milk in 2024-25 and sells about two-thirds of it as liquid milk. The case for value-added dairy.
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FCI Grain Flow — Procurement · Storage · Disposal Dashboard
India's foodgrain system in one view: what the government buys, what it holds against buffer norms, and where the grain goes.
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The Price of Grain: MSP, MSV, and the Arithmetic of the Indian Grain State
How India prices its harvest for farmers, ration shops, distilleries and export markets.
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Jai Kisan, Jai Javan — An FCI-Based Military Ration Strategy
A proposal to produce armed-forces rations from FCI-sourced, domestically milled grain, linking food security with defence procurement.
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Theme 05
Capital, deals & climate
Global Biofuels M&A: A Bankruptcy, a Bolt-On, and Where the Capital Is Actually Going
A $2 billion renewable-diesel refinery in Chapter 11, a bolt-on acquisition, and where biofuels capital is actually flowing.
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Raising Green Debt Globally: The REC EuroYen Playbook, the CBI Stamp, and Every Avenue an Indian Issuer Actually Has
REC's certified EuroYen green bonds, and every route an Indian issuer has to raise green debt abroad.
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PET Recycling Already Cuts Emissions 60%+. The New MOEFCC Rules Are About Making That System Traceable
Recycled PET uses 70–79% less energy than virgin plastic. The new rules are about traceability, not volume.
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Not a Drop Out: Ethanol's Zero-Liquid-Discharge Rule, and the Treatment-Capacity Gap Behind It
Zero liquid discharge for distilleries tightened over two decades. The treatment-capacity gap behind the rule.
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