New Delhi, March 24 -- Ethanol lobby groups are pushing for ethanol-based cooktops in India as the country faces a disruption in domestic cooking gas supplies due to the ongoing West Asia war.

Lobby groups Indian Sugar and Bio-energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA) and the Grain Ethanol Manufacturers Association (GEMA) have pitched a study to assess the technical feasibility, safety standards, and economic viability of ethanol-based cooking solutions in India, along with notifying ethanol as an approved cooking fuel in letters to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and petroleum and natural gas ministry. Mint has reviewed the correspondence.

Such cookstoves are used in African countries such as Nigeria and Ethiopia and elsewhere in Brazi...