JFET_V10_N1_RevP1 Susarla Venkata Ananta Rama Sastry Ch. V. Ramachandra Murthy Journal on Future Engineering and Technology 2230 – 7184 10 1 27 34 India, Biofuel, Energy Policy, Ligno-Cellulosic Residue, Sustainable Energy, Renewable Energy Consequent to rising oil prices and growing fears of climate change, biofuels are receiving increasing consideration worldwide as alternative to fossil fuels. Biofuels are being considered as sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels, because of their potential to promote energy security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, biofuels also provide opportunities for job creation and diversification of rural economy. Hitherto the large-scale production of biofuels requires shift from our current dependence on fossil fuels and brings with it a suite of potential problems. Second generation biofuels derived from ligno-cellulosic agricultural residue are increasingly attractive to the biofuel industry because they are expected to be more efficient than first generation crops and they will not compete directly with food production. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the second generation biofuels in an Indian context and to describe the barriers to wider adoption of the biofuels. This review also aims to appraise the development of second generation biofuels industry in India summarizing the approximate costs for commercial scale plants from the literature along with major commercial and research programs in second generation fuels production in the country. This paper lists Indian research and development gaps that, once overcome, should assist in taking the industry forward. An objective of the review is to stimulate policy makers and industry to examine more closely the opportunities in second generation biofuels that are unique to India. August - October 2014 Copyright © 2014 i-manager publications. All rights reserved. i-manager Publications http://www.imanagerpublications.com/Article.aspx?ArticleId=2908