Santosh Kumar has spent more than a decade moving from state to state in search of a livelihood. The last time he migrated from his home in Bihar was more than two years ago, when he went to Delhi. There, he worked as a boiler operator in a factory. “I would earn ₹20,000 a month, but a large part of it was spent on food and lodging,” he said. Two years ago, Kumar learned from a friend that a new ethanol plant was being set up in Nawanagar, about 20 kilometres from his village in Bihar’s Buxar district. “I immediately returned and joined the plant,” said the father of three. Kumar has been working at the Nawanagar ethanol plant since then. However, the situation changed towards the end of last year when India’s Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) — Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited — reduced ethanol procurement quotas for Bihar. The decision led to a 10-day shutdown of the Nawanagar plant in December 2025, where Kumar is employed as a boiler operator. “I am afraid that if this continues (reduced procurement causing shutdowns), I will have to migrate again to Delhi, Gujarat, or Maharashtra,” Kumar said. Murari Chaudhary, another boiler operator at the same plant, shares similar concerns. “If the situation remains the same, the plant will close, and we will become unemployed,” said Chaudhary, who is from Jharkhand. “There are no other employment options nearby. If I have to work, I will…This article was originally published on Mongabay
