UPSC Key: Strategic Petroleum Reserves, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Helium Crisis

Key Points to Ponder:

• Why did Trump declare a ceasefire?

• What exactly US President said?

• How Tehran reacted?

• Did Iran agree to a ceasefire with the US?

• Why US-Israel attacked Iran?

• USA and Iran bilateral relations-Know the historical background

• Iran conflicts and Shia-Sunni relations in West Asia-analyse

• How does Shia-Sunni divide relate to Saudi Arabia and Iran?

• What is Saudi Arabia, UAE, Lebanon and Qatar’s role in U.S.-Israeli and Iran war?

• Is this current war also about Sunni vs. Shia?

Key Takeaways:

• Iran, however, denied any direct negotiations. Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said claims of talks were “fake news” being used to “manipulate” financial and oil markets. The conflicting statements come as fighting continues across the region, with strikes reported in Tehran and Beirut, and oil prices falling sharply after Trump’s announcement.

• Trump said discussions were under way to see if a broader agreement could be reached, adding Iran “wants to settle” and “wants peace”.

• Ghalibaf said no talks had taken place and accused the US of spreading “fake news” to influence markets.

• Trump said strikes on Iranian energy sites were paused for five days, but US forces continued operations, according to US Central Command.

• Global oil prices dropped by about 11% after the announcement of a delay in attacks.

• Israeli strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, with Lebanon’s health ministry saying more than 1,000 people have been killed since early March.

Do You Know:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday addressed the Lok Sabha on the current West Asia conflict, outlining key aspects of the escalating crisis and India’s position on the issue.

• With the West Asia conflict in its fourth week, PM Modi’s statement in Lok Sabha during the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament had five important diplomatic takeaways:
—First, he said the situation in West Asia is “concerning”, and the fact that he chose Parliament as the platform reflects its seriousness and its impact on people’s lives.
—Second, he drew attention to the economic impact of the war, which is adversely impacting several countries and people’s lives, and underlined that India has “extensive trade relations” with “countries at war and affected by war”, which essentially covers the nations in West Asia and the Gulf. PM Modi pointed out that India imports 60 per cent of its LPG requirements and, due to uncertain supply, the government is prioritising domestic production.
—Third, he talked about Indians affected by the war, including the Indian diaspora in the region and the seafarers stranded and affected in the Strait of Hormuz. About one crore people live and work in the Gulf countries, and they are usually the breadwinners of their families from Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal, among other states.
—Fourth, he flagged the issue of diplomacy and urged all parties to resolve this crisis at the earliest.
—Fifth, Modi’s silence on the condemnation of attacks by the US and Israel is also part of the diplomatic signalling that India is pragmatic in its approach to secure its interests, without offending the major players in the region.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Disruptions around Strait of Hormuz made shipping ‘very challenging’: Modi assures minimal impact on domestic supplies

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
(1) Consider the following statements : (UPSC CSE 2024)
Statement-I: Sumed pipeline is a strategic route for Persian Gulf oil and natural gas shipments to Europe.
Statement-II: Sumed pipeline connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
b) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
c) Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
d) Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

For women’s quota, Govt looks at higher LS strength based on Census 2011

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc

Mains Examination: 

• General Studies I: Role of women and women’s organization

• General Studies II: Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.

What’s the ongoing story: The government has suggested an increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats, while maintaining the existing proportion among states, and Vidhan Sabha constituencies as a first step towards implementing the women’s reservation Act.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Women’s Reservation in the parliament and in the legislative assembly-what are the key highlights?

• The Women’s Reservation Act also Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023-know in detail

• Why delimitation is required for the implementation of women reservation?

• ‘Increase on the basis of Census 2011’-what have you understood by the same?

• What is the historical context surrounding the implementation of reservations for women in politics in India?

• What is the current state of women’s representation in politics in India?

• One of the most remarkable experiments in building inclusive democratic institutions has been the attempt to improve the representation of women in local government in India-what do you know about that?

• The 73rd amendment to the Indian constitution, passed in 1992, mandated some seats etc-can you recall and tell what was that all about?

• The 73rd amendment to the Indian constitution was an successful attempt for inclusive participation of women in politics-comment

• Why is women’s participation in politics important?

Key Takeaways:

• In talks with Opposition parties to evolve a consensus on this, the government has suggested the increase on the basis of Census 2011 – thus delinking it from the ongoing Census.

• An Opposition party MP who was present at a meeting on Monday chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam told The Indian Express that one proposal was to raise the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 from 543, after delimitation based on Census 2011. Of these, around 270 seats could be reserved for women, said the MP who did not wish to be named.

• The government apparently hopes to ensure this as well as implement the women quota from the 2029 general elections onwards.
Do You Know:

• According to The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Amendment) Bill 2023, “as nearly as maybe, one-third (including the seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election to the House of People shall be reserved for women”.

• The 42nd Amendment froze the delimitation exercise until the results of the first Census after 2000 was published. In 2001, this was further extended for 25 years. And now, delimitation would happen after the results of the first Census after 2026 is published.

• The Bill states that one-third of the seats in Parliament and state Assemblies will be reserved for women. However, it doesn’t specify how these seats will be identified.

• The Delimitation Act, 2002 lays down broad principles for reserving seats. The Delimitation Commission appointed under the Act is responsible for deciding the number of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies to be reserved based on the population.
“Constituencies in which seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes shall be distributed in different parts of the State and located, as far as practicable, in those areas where the proportion of their population to the total is comparatively large,” Section 9 (1)(c) of the Act says.

• For delimitation — which is a precondition for the implementation of reservation — Articles 82 and 170(3) of the Constitution would have to be amended. Article 82 provides for the readjustment of constituencies (number and boundaries) of Lok Sabha after every Census. Article 170(3) deals with composition of the Legislative Assemblies.

• Article 243D of the Constitution provides for reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and women in Panchayats.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Women’s reservation: What is the road ahead, before it can be implemented

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
(2) With reference to the Delimitation Commission consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE, 2012)
1. The orders of the Delimitation Commission cannot be challenged in a Court of Law.
2. When the orders of the Delimitation Commission are laid before the Lok Sabha or State Legislative Assembly, they cannot effect any modification in the orders.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2

(3) How many Delimitation Commissions have been constituted by the Government of India till December 2023? (UPSC CSE, 2024)
a) One
b) Two
c) Three
d) Four

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
📍“The reservation of seats for women in the institution of local self-government has had a limited impact on the patriarchal character of the Indian political process”. Comment. (GS2, 2019)
📍“Empowering women is the key to control population growth”. Discuss. (GS1, 2019)
📍‘Women’s movement in India has not addressed the issues of women of lower social strata.’ Substantiate your view. (GS1, 2018)
📍Male membership needs to be encouraged in order to make women’s organization free from gender bias. Comment. (GS1, 2013)

The City

War in Gulf raises concern over helium supplies, critical for MRI machines

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies III:Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life

What’s the ongoing story: The disruption in the global supply of helium because of the war in the Middle East and the severe restrictions on trade through the Gulf of Hormuz has begun to ring alarm bells in India’s healthcare sector, especially with regard to the cost of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and the installation of MRI machines.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is Magnetic Resonance Imaging?

• How MRI works?.

• Helium and MRI-Connect the dots

• Why is there a helium shortage?

• What is the significance of Helium gas?

• India’s dependence on imported helium-know in brief

• Who is the biggest supplier of helium?

• How the Gulf conflict is impacting India’s economy beyond oil?

Key Takeaways:

• Industry experts said the situation has not yet escalated into an outright shortage of helium, but supply disruptions, especially from Qatar, which supplies about a third of the world’s helium exports, have driven up prices significantly.

• While any disruption of supply chains including shipping constraints can have downstream effects on healthcare infra, experts says the extent of the disruption depends significantly on the type of MRI systems that are involved.
The newer “helium-free” machines, which use minimal helium – often less than 10 litres – do not, for example, require refilling, and are largely unaffected. However the bulk of India’s installed base relies on traditional systems that require substantial quantities of helium.

• On the ground, the stress has begun to show at hospitals and diagnostic centres. The managements of several labs in the city insisted that their MRI operations have not been impacted yet.

Do You Know:

• Helium, a colourless, odourless, gas – the first of the six noble gases in the periodic table – is a non-renewable resource which, despite being the second most abundant element in the universe after hydrogen, is rare on Earth.

• Helium is produced commercially by extracting it from natural gas by a process known as cryogenic distillation. Qatar is the world’s third largest exporter of natural gas after the United States and Russia.

• Helium is critical for operating MRI machines. Helium in its liquid state is used to cool the intensely powerful superconducting magnets that are at the heart of MRI machines.

• The superconducting coils work at cryogenic temperatures, and helium, which is chemically inert and has the lowest boiling point of any element (minus 269 degrees Celsius), is the only practical coolant for these machines.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍For India, the costs of the Iran war beyond LPG

UPSC Practice Question Covering similar theme:
4) Which of the following best explains the role of helium in MRI machines?
a) Heating agent
b) Cooling superconducting magnets
c) Radiation source
d) Energy source

Nation

Will Indian refiners buy Iranian crude oil after US sanctions waiver?

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

What’s the ongoing story: Indian refiners will decide on buying Iranian crude oil based on techno-commercial feasibility, a senior Petroleum Ministry official said.

Key Points to Ponder:

• India’s dependence on crude oil imports from Iran-What you know so far?

• What is the role of Iranian oil in India’s energy security?

• US sanctions on Iranian crude-Know its impact on India

• Why Iran is important for India?

• What is the role of OPEC in global oil pricing?

Key Takeaways:

• Amid the raging West Asia war, the US on Saturday suspended for a month the sanctions on Iranian crude already loaded on tankers in a bid to allow as many barrels of oil as possible to flow into the international market to improve the global oil supply situation and curb spiralling crude oil prices.

• According to the general license issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury on Saturday, transactions related to the sale, delivery, or offloading of crude oil and petroleum products of Iranian origin — loaded on any vessel, including tankers sanctioned by the US, as of 12:01 eastern daylight time (9:31 am India time) on March 20 — are authorised till April 19.

• It is, however, not clear how new potential buyers of Iranian crud—including India—will make payments for any Iranian crude they might buy. This is because Iran and its banks remain out of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT)—the main messaging network through which international payments are initiated.

• Earlier, a mechanism for payments in Euros existed, but that channel also effectively shut down after most major buyers of Iranian crude stopped imports following the reimposition of sanctions on Tehran by the first Donald Trump administration.

Do You Know:

• For years now, over 90% of Iranian oil exports have been going to one country— China. Technically, this move will not really increase the global oil supply — Iranian oil was already part of it with China’s purchases — but will enable other countries also to buy Tehran’s oil. On its part, Iran has claimed that it currently has no floating crude or surplus available for international buyers. Industry experts said that shipping data shows that around 140-170 million barrels of Iranian oil is on water, including volumes that are already sold and those that are yet to be sold.

• Amid the tight global supply situation, every barrel counts. Vessel movements through the Strait of Hormuz have effectively been halted due to the conflict that began on February 28. The Strait accounted for one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows. Around 2.5–2.7 million bpd of India’s crude imports — around half of the overall oil imports — have transited the Strait in recent months, while the longer-term average is around 40%. India depends on imports to meet over 88% of its requirement of crude oil.

• Currently, Iranian crude availability is high, with an estimated 170 million barrels on the water, including floating storage and cargoes in transit, as per Kpler data. While part of these volumes is committed, a portion remains unsold, representing potential incremental supply.

• India had been a regular buyer of Iranian oil, even during previous sanctions periods of the pre-Trump era, when import volumes of Iranian crude declined, but were still not insignificant.

• Back in 2009-10, India imported 22.1 million tonnes of Iranian crude and it accounted for 14.4% of India’s overall oil imports, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. But as international sanctions on Iran intensified, hitting payment channels and creating other logistical hurdles, the volumes declined gradually to 11.2 million tonnes in 2014-15.

• The sanctions were formally lifted in early 2016 as part of the Iran nuclear deal. Thereafter, Indian refiners started ramping up oil imports from Iran. India imported 13.6 million tonnes of Iranian oil in 2015-16, and the volumes shot up to 27.1 million tonnes in 2016-17, making Tehran the third-largest source of India’s oil imports behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

• Iran also did its bit to boost India’s purchases of its oil by offering discounted shipping and extended credit periods to Indian refiners. In 2016-17, Iranian oil made up 12.6% of India’s total crude oil imports of almost 215 million tonnes.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍If Trump attacks Iran’s power plants, how region, oil prices will be affected

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
(5) In the context of global oil prices, “Brent crude oil” is frequently referred to in the news. What does this term imply? (UPSC CSE, 2011)
1. It is a major classification of crude oil.
2. It is sourced from the North Sea.
3. It does not contain sulphur.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 2 only
b) 1 and 2 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3

Scientists investigate how TB bacteria hide, adapt and survive

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Main Examination: General Studies II: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

What’s the ongoing story: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the microbe that causes tuberculosis (TB), actively reshapes its outer fat membrane to slip past immunity shields, survives stress and even rewires host cells to gain entry. A new study by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, has found a way to detect these changes, which can help in understanding why TB bacteria are becoming increasingly multidrug-resistant.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Know about Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb)

• Tuberculosis (TB) and India-Impact

• World Health Organisation’s Global TB Report 2025-what are the key takeaways?

• India has made tremendous progress in its fight against TB-What measures India adopted?

• Discuss the significance of India’s achievements in tuberculosis (TB) treatment and preventive therapy?

• What is India’s TB elimination target?

• What are the challenges and strategies in combating TB in India?

• What is the role of preventive healthcare in addressing communicable diseases like TB?

• Know India’s National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP) in the context of WHO’s End TB Strategy.

• What are the socioeconomic implications of high TB incidence in India?

Key Takeaways:

• The research led by Dr Shobhna Kapoor, Department of Biotechnology/Wellcome Trust India Alliance Intermediate Fellow at IIT-B, raises the possibility of spotting hard-to-diagnose infections by not just looking at proteins but fat.

• One reason TB is difficult to control is that the bacteria can enter a resting state called latent or dormant TB after the initial infection. They stay alive but are inactive, sometimes for many years. People with latent TB have no symptoms and cannot spread the disease. However, the bacteria can become active again if the immune system weakens, such as with another infection or HIV or use of immunosuppressants.

• Most antibiotics work only on TB bacteria that are active and dividing; therefore, dormant TB cells, which grow very slowly or not at all, can survive treatment and persist in the infected person and even acquire antibiotic tolerance.

Do You Know:

• TB is caused by an organism called mycobacterium tuberculosis, which mainly affects the lungs, but can also impact other parts of the body. TB spreads through the air when an infected individual coughs, sneezes, or speaks.

• In 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced India’s ambitious target of eliminating TB by 2025, five years ahead of the global target. Although there has been a consistent decline in the estimated number of TB cases — as well as the rate of TB cases per 100,000 population — India is nowhere close to its target of eliminating the bacterial disease by 2025. Various efforts have been undertaken to eliminate TB, such as:
—In India, the government offers free medicines for TB treatment, which is essential as the medicines can be expensive and the therapy may continue for as long as two years.
—An online Ni-kshay portal has been set up to track the notified TB cases. The government also launched a community engagement program where Ni-kshay Mitras can adopt TB patients and provide them with monthly nutritional support.

• While TB elimination is defined as less than one case per million population, the WHO End TB strategy targets an 80% decline in new TB cases and 90% decline in TB deaths by 2030 as compared to the baseline year of 2015.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Knowledge Nugget: Everything you need to know about WHO’s Global TB Report 2025 and beyond

Previous Year UPSC Mains Question Covering Similar Theme:
📍“Besides being a moral imperative of a Welfare State, primary health structure is a necessary precondition for sustainable development.” Analyse. (2021)

Economy

Of India’s 5.33 mn tonne of strategic oil reserve capacity, 36% is empty

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

What’s the ongoing story: India’s strategic petroleum reserves (SPRs), which have a capacity to store 5.33 million tonnes of crude oil, are currently holding 3.37 million tonnes of oil, or just about two-thirds of their total storage capacity, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) said in the Rajya Sabha.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What are Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR)?

• What are the implications of partially empty SPRs?

• Know India’s energy security challenges in the context of ongoing war.

• What are the challenges in expanding Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) capacity?

• Map Work– Strategic Petroleum Reserves in India

• Which countries have strategic oil reserves?

Key Takeaways:

• The SPRs — spread across three locations in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka — are meant to act as a buffer for short-term supply shocks and have been in focus in view of the raging war in West Asia, which has disrupted energy flows to India. At full capacity, the three SPRs cover around 9.5 days of India’s crude oil supplies.

• In July 2021, the government had approved the establishment of two more commercial-cum-strategic petroleum reserves with a cumulative storage capacity of 6.5 million tonnes to 4 million tonnes in Odisha’s Chandikhol and another 2.5 million tonnes in Karnataka’s Padur. Besides these, there were plans to have reserves in places like Bikaner and Rajkot, which would have raised the total SPR capacity by another 6 million tonnes. Decisions on these reserves are yet to be taken.

• Around 2.5–2.7 million bpd of India’s crude imports — accounting for around half of the country’s total oil imports — have transited the Strait in recent months; the longer-term average is around 40%. The crisis has underscored the need to build more oil stocks and reserves for dealing with extended supply disruptions.

• Experts point to the option of storage being leased out to West Asian refiners, especially since it reduces their freight costs into Southeast Asian markets. In fact, In July 2021, the government also approved the commercialization of Phase -I SPRs under which an agreement was signed between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) UAE and ISPRL, permitting ADNOC to use 750,000 tonnes capacity at the Mangaluru SPR.

Do You Know:

• The concept of dedicated strategic reserves was first mooted in 1973, after the first oil crisis. Western strategic reserves have been tapped during the first Gulf War (1991), after Hurricane Katrina (2005), and in 2022 after global oil prices surged in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

• International Energy Agency (IEA) members have now decided to release 400 million barrels of oil from their emergency in view of the current supply disruption and oil price surge caused by the West Asia war. Countries like the US, China, and Japan maintain massive strategic petroleum reserves.

• In India, the ISPRL is a special purpose vehicle floated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Oil Industry Development Board for building and managing the strategic crude storage. Currently, it has three underground caverns at Visakhapatnam (1.33 million tonnes), Mangaluru (1.5 million tonnes), and Padur (2.5 million tonnes).

• India is the world’s third-largest consumer of crude oil and depends on imports to meet over 88% of its requirement. The IEA recommends that countries should hold oil stocks equivalent to at least 90 days of their net oil imports. IEA members are obligated to maintain these levels of reserves; India is not a full member of the grouping but an associate member. This 90-day reserve holding can include strategic reserves, as well as commercial inventories.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Dire Straits: Some vessels trickle through Hormuz, their unusual paths indicate a nod from Iran

UPSC Prelims Practice Question Covering similar theme:
(6) India’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves are managed by:
a) ONGC
b) Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL)
c) IOC
d) NITI Aayog

Explained

Why India must step on the gas with ethanol

Preliminary Examination: General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.

What’s the ongoing story: In November 1975, two years after the first global oil shock courtesy of the Arab-Israeli ‘Yom Kippur’ War, Brazil launched a Proálcool programme, aimed at reducing the country’s dependence on imported fuels.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is Ethanol?

• What is Ethanol Blending?

• What is the Significance of Ethanol Blending?

• National Policy on Biofuel 2018-Know the key Features

• What amendments have been made in National Policy on Biofuel 2018 so far?

• What is the current blending status?

• What are the environmental benefits of ethanol as a biofuel?

Key Takeaways:

• Proálcool mandated all petrol sold in Brazil to contain a minimum 11% anhydrous alcohol or ethanol. In 1979, when the second oil crisis came with the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Brazil introduced cars that could run on 100% hydrous alcohol (this has 5-6% water as against less than 1% for ethanol).

• By 1985, when domestic ethanol production reached nearly 1,200 crore litres, Brazilian fuel stations had two types of pumps, one for ethanol-blended petrol (Gasoline C, as it is called) vehicles and the other for 100% hydrous alcohol (E100) vehicles.

• In 2003, the first commercial flex-fuel vehicles were launched in Brazil, with engines capable of running on both Gasoline C and E100 fuel. The vehicles had electronic sensors to detect the particular ethanol-gasoline blend in the tank and adjust the fuel injection volume and spark timing automatically.

• The minimum ethanol blend in petrol was hiked to 25% by 2014 and to 27% from March 16, 2015. Since August 1, 2015, the ethanol content in Gasoline C has been set at 30%.

• In 2024, Brazil’s total fuel alcohol consumption was 3,492.4 crore litres: 2,289.6 crore litres of E100 and 1,202.8 crore litres of ethanol in Gasoline C. While the ethanol blend rate in Gasoline C was 27% (now 30%), the overall mix for fuel used in the country’s light-duty vehicles fleet stood at 51.8%. Thus, alcohol constitutes more than half of the fuel powering Brazil’s cars and two-wheelers.

Do You Know:

• Speaking in Parliament on the West Asia war on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to India’s own ramped-up efforts on ethanol blending over the last decade that had helped address its vulnerabilities from imported energy.

• Since 1979, the world has seen at least three oil shocks — in 2008, when Brent crude prices surged to a record $147.5 per barrel on July 11, and in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, when they reached $139.13 on March 7.

• The latest shock — from the ongoing US-Israel versus Iran war — should be a wake-up call for India and to replicate the Brazil model, said CK Jain, president of the Delhi-based Grain Ethanol Manufacturers Association.

• Currently, ethanol is covered under the goods and services tax (GST) regime. The ethanol used for blending with petrol attracts 5% GST. But petrol remains outside GST, attracting both the Central excise duty and State value added tax. And both ethanol-blended petrol and pure petrol are treated as identical for taxation purposes.

• Ethanol production involves fermentation of sugar by yeasts. In molasses or cane juice, sugar is present as sucrose. Cereal grains contain starch, a complex carbohydrate that has to first be extracted and broken down into simple sugars before further fermentation, distillation and dehydration to ethanol with 99.99% alcohol concentration.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍How grain, not sugar, is fuelling India’s ethanol production

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
(7) Consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE, 2025)
Statement I: Of the two major ethanol producers in the world, i.e., Brazil and the United States of America, the former produces more ethanol than the latter.
Statement II: Unlike in the United States of America where corn is the principal feedstock for ethanol production, sugarcane is the principal feedstock for ethanol production in Brazil.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
a) Both Statement I and Statement II correct and Statement II explains Statement I
b) Both Statement I and Statement II are correct but Statement II does not explain
c) Statement I Statement I is correct but Statement II is not correct
d) Statement I is not correct but Statement II is correct

US-Iran pause is a relief for Gulf desalination plants, water supply

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday

What’s the ongoing story: Following threats from US President Donald Trump on Sunday (March 22), Iran has warned that if its fuel and energy infrastructure is attacked, it will target water desalination infrastructure used by the United States and Israel in West Asia.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is desalination?

• How desalination works?

• How many water desalination stations do the Gulf countries have?

• Why Gulf countries have maximum numbers of water desalination?

• Why does the Gulf need so many desalination plants?

• How have desalination plants been affected due to the war?

• How widely is this technology used in India?

Key Takeaways:

• In all, Gulf countries reported 172 water desalination stations in 2018, with Oman accounting for the most (65 stations), followed by Saudi Arabia (44), the UAE (40), Qatar (9), Kuwait (8) and Bahrain (6), as per the database available on the GCC Statistical Centre’s portal.

• These stations have a combined capacity of 22 billion litres per day, with actual annual desalinated water production at 6,053 billion litres. The plants are located in coastal areas.

• In Saudi Arabia, the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) runs several desalination plants, including Ras Al-Khair, Jeddah, Yanbu, and Al-Shuqaiq. In 2018, Saudi Arabia launched the AlKhafji Desalination Plant, which was termed the world’s largest solar-powered water desalination project. It has the capacity to produce up to 90,000 m³ of clean water per day, providing water to over 15 lakh people.

• Such plants have, however, also come under criticism for the fact that reverse osmosis, the predominant desalination method, generates large quantities of saltwater brine. This is usually discharged into the ocean and can harm marine habitats and sea creatures.

Do You Know:

• Desalination plants convert saltwater into drinkable water, which can also be used for irrigation and industrial use. Saline water contains significant concentrations of dissolved salts (ranging up to 35,000 ppm) and is otherwise unfit for human consumption. Given the scarcity of freshwater sources and a growing population, the need for additional water supplies has long been recognised.

How desalination works.

• The Gulf countries, covering an area of 2.67 million square km (about 81% of India’s geographic area), receive very low rainfall, ranging from 4 to 30 cm. The total precipitation was just 281.91 billion cubic metres in 2018 — just 7% of what India receives in a year (about 4,000 billion cubic metres).

• The GCC countries do not have rivers, but wadis, which have water available only during rainfall. The total groundwater abstraction (freshwater extracted from the ground) was recorded at 26,495 million cubic metres across the six countries in 2018, as per the GCC Statistical Centre database. With no river, scanty rainfall, and limited non-renewable groundwater, the GCC countries are heavily dependent on the desalination of seawater to meet their water needs.

• Qatar and Bahrain meet more than half their water requirements from desalination plants, while Kuwait and the UAE meet 40-50% of their water demand through them. Saudi Arabia and Oman also have a high dependency.

• As per the GCC Statistical Centre, the total population of all six Gulf countries was 5.7 crore in 2020 (almost equal to the population size of Andhra Pradesh). The most populous country is Saudi Arabia (3.5 crore population, which is equal to that of Kerala), followed by the UAE (92 lakh, or a population less than Uttarakhand’s), Oman (46 lakh) and Kuwait (44 lakh, or a little above than Tripura’s population), Qatar (27 lakh, less then Manipur) and Bahrain (14.72 lakh, which was equal to Puducherry’s population).

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Why desalination plants have become the latest focal point in West Asia war

UPSC Prelims Practice Question Covering similar theme:
(8) Which of the following best explains reverse osmosis?
a) Heating process
b) Filtration through semi-permeable membrane under pressure
c) Evaporation
d) Chemical reaction

PRELIMS ANSWER KEY

1.(a) 2.(c) 3.(d) 4.(b) 5.(b) 6.(b) 7.(d) 8.(b)

  

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