Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the Alvorada Palace on Tuesday (local time). The two leaders explored opportunities to strengthen and diversify trade relations between India and Brazil. Additionally, India is engaging with Brazil to gain insights from its experience in implementing flex-fuel policies and regulatory frameworks.
PM Modi emphasized that both nations see significant potential in expanding these partnerships. He said, “Had a productive discussion with President Lula, a steadfast advocate of strong India-Brazil ties. We explored ways to deepen our trade relationship and broaden the scope of bilateral exchange. Both of us believe there is vast potential for these collaborations to flourish in the future. Clean energy, sustainable development, and tackling climate change were central to our conversation. We also agreed to enhance cooperation in areas such as defence, security, AI, and agriculture. Further collaboration in space, semiconductors, and digital public infrastructure will also bring benefits to our citizens.”
P. Kumaran, Secretary (East) in India’s Ministry of External Affairs, highlighted that both leaders recognized agriculture’s crucial role in their economies. He noted that Brazil’s longstanding mandate for blending ethanol with fossil fuels is of particular interest to India, which is pursuing a similar strategy.
Kumaran said, “Brazil, as you know, has a mandate for mixing ethanol with traditional fossil fuels. India is also pushing a mandate on mixing ethanol with traditional fossil fuels. We have been talking to Brazil about their experience on mandating flex-fuel content and trying to learn from their experiences in regulating this. There are also crops that are grown on either side which can be converted into biofuel. We want to try and see what we can do together to learn from each other’s experiences, what kind of technologies are available on either side so that we can benefit from each other.”
In his official statement, President Lula affirmed Brazil and India’s potential to lead a new development paradigm rooted in clean energy. He remarked, “Brazil and India can serve as engines of a new clean energy-based development model. We are already partners in the Global Biofuels Alliance, launched during India’s G20 presidency. India has the world’s fastest-growing bioenergy market, targeting a 20% ethanol blend in gasoline and a 5% biodiesel mix in diesel. Brazil, with five decades of experience in biofuels, leads in flex-fuel engine use, blending 30% ethanol in gasoline and 15% biodiesel in diesel.”
