The Congress party has accused Union Minister Nitin Gadkari of conflict of interest, alleging his sons' companies have benefited from the government's ethanol blending policy. The BJP has rejected the allegations.
The Supreme Court rejected a PIL challenging the nationwide rollout of 20% ethanol-blended petrol (EBP-20), citing benefits to sugarcane farmers. The plea alleged incompatibility issues with older vehicles.
'The E20 usage accrues the huge benefit to the nation, to the society, to the farmer, to the environment, to the exchequer and all of us'
The ministry stated that for vehicles designed for E10 and calibrated for E20, mileage may drop by just 1-2 per cent, while in other vehicles, it could be around 3-6 per cent.
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd has launched the Wagon R, India's first flex-fuel car, capable of running on any blend of ethanol and petrol from E20 to E100, aligning with national energy security and sustainability goals.
The Indian government has dismissed concerns that the use of E20 fuel could affect the validity of vehicle insurance policies, stating that the ethanol blending programme remains safe, consumer-friendly, and economically beneficial.
The mandatory 10 per cent ethanol blending in petrol may not happen for the existing 101 million vehicles on the Indian roads without introducing technical changes in them. The central government plans to make 10 per cent blending compulsory from October from the current 5 per cent. Existing vehicles are not capable of running on 10 per cent ethanol-blended petrol as ethanol releases more heat and can corrode vehicle engines, experts say. It will lead to a 3% drop in mileage.
A new digital political phenomenon, the 'E20 Janta Party', is gaining traction on Instagram, mobilising Gen Z against the government's mandatory 20% ethanol-blended petrol (E20) and demanding Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's resignation.
The limited availability of flexible (flex)-fuel vehicles in the Indian market and the slow rollout of ethanol-blended petrol by oil-marketing companies (OMCs) remain major obstacles to achieving widespread use of biofuels in the transportation sector in India. Recently, two Union ministers have emphasised India's biofuel potential, arguing that it has the capacity and potential to lead a transition towards widespread biofuel adoption. Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari signalled that this transition is well underway and urged car manufacturers to quickly adapt and introduce new biofuel-run vehicles, lest the government resort to taxing diesel vehicles.
It, however, conceded that 20 per cent blending of ethanol with petrol leads to 3-5 per cent lower mileage in vehicles than conventional petrol, but said the blend offers a significantly higher octane rating, superior anti-knock properties, faster combustion, better pickup, smoother acceleration, and cleaner engine operation.
Use of 10 per cent ethanol-blended petrol has led to a saving of over Rs 41,000 crore in the foreign exchange for the country, minister of state for environment, forest and climate change Ashwini Kumar Choubey said on Wednesday. Speaking at an online event of auto industry body SIAM on sustainable mobility, the minister said the government is working in multiple ways to encourage sustainable mobility. "India recently achieved 10 per cent ethanol blending target 5 months in advance, saving over Rs 41,000 crore worth of fuel imports for the nation," Choubey noted.
Researchers at IIT Kanpur have found that 20 per cent ethanol-blended petrol (E20) does not significantly reduce fuel efficiency or harm vehicle engines, contradicting social media claims and providing reassurance amidst its nationwide rollout. The study supports the Oil Ministry's stance on E20's benefits.
The Indian government has allocated an additional 2 million tonnes of surplus broken rice from FCI stocks for its ethanol blending programme, while simultaneously issuing a detailed rebuttal to widespread misinformation regarding the E20 fuel, addressing concerns from water consumption to engine damage and environmental impact.
Ethanol blending with petrol has resumed after more than a year. Last week, sale of blended petrol started in Bangalore, Mathura and parts of Gujarat. While blending will be gradually extended to the other parts of the country, the quantity of ethanol contracted so far is insufficient to continue the programme nationally beyond eight months.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the target date for achieving 20 per cent ethanol-blending with petrol has been advanced by five years to 2025 to cut pollution and reduce import dependence.
The ethanol blended with petrol needs to be of 99.99 per cent purity.
While the 5 per cent ethanol blended petrol programme has missed three deadlines
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has received permission from the Bombay High Court to file a civil suit against Meta Platforms, X Corp, Google LLC, and other unknown entities for allegedly circulating 'defamatory' deepfakes and AI-generated content against him.
Flex fuel motorcycles can deliver "3 per cent higher torque and 7 per cent higher peak power".
"There is a sharp jump that we have seen in bookings of EVs... The jump, at least in our case, in just two months, it is about 2 to 2.5 times of what it used to be"
Maruti Suzuki Chairman R C Bhargava is pushing for increased government incentives for biogas-powered vehicles over hybrids, emphasising their net-zero carbon emissions and the valuable organic manure they produce, while also advocating for continued GST benefits for electric vehicles.
The Indian government is actively developing a policy for flex-fuel vehicle adoption and aiming for 100 per cent ethanol blending in petrol to enhance energy self-reliance, particularly in light of supply disruptions from the West Asia conflict.
To curb petrol import costs, the NDA government is pushing for a 10% ethanol mix in petrol
The Congress party is set to challenge the Modi government on a range of critical issues, including alleged theft of Ram temple donations, 'systemic corrosion' of the education system, and constitutional amendment bills related to delimitation and dismissal of ministers, during the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament.
India's ambitious programme to cut oil import dependence by mixing ethanol in petrol has reached the national capital, with Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat formally launching the environment friendly fuel on Tuesday.
BJP sources said the government would introduce a fresh Bill on the issue and has reached out to parties that opposed the earlier legislation.
Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra announced that India's foreign exchange reserves stand at a healthy $682.3 billion as of May 29, 2026, providing approximately 11 months of import cover and strong protection against external shocks.
The Indian government and opposition are preparing for a contentious Monsoon Session of Parliament, with key issues including the Constitution Amendment Bill on delimitation and women's reservation, the alleged NEET paper leak, and a row over Ram temple donations set to spark heated debates.
India's sugar consumption is projected to fall by nearly 400,000 tonnes in the 2025-26 season, primarily due to the ongoing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) shortage exacerbated by the West Asia conflict and unseasonably cool weather.
'Our leaders, including Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, are in touch with all Opposition parties, including the DMK and the AAP.'
Oil-marketing companies (OMCs) are set to significantly expand the sale of flex fuel (E85) across India, with plans to reach 5,000 outlets in major cities by the end of next year, according to Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. This move aims to boost ethanol demand, reduce crude oil imports, and cut carbon emissions, coinciding with the launch of India's first flex-fuel vehicles by Maruti Suzuki and Hero MotoCorp.
Not a single retail outlet ran dry. Every household that wanted a cylinder got one. India faced neither a 1991 moment nor a 2013 one. Macroeconomic stability held. This was not an accident, and it was not luck alone. It was the work of a government that chose to act as it had during the pandemic -- deliberately and gradually, building one measure upon another rather than reaching for a single dramatic lever, explains V Anantha Nageswaran, chief economic advisor to the Government of India.
The five-member Group of Ministers (GoM) also include Agriculture Minister Sharad Paward, Heavy Industries Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and Chemical and Fertiliser Minister M K Azhagiri, official sources said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged for restraint in the use of petro products due to the West Asia crisis, emphasising the need to save foreign exchange and reduce the impact of war. He also highlighted India's progress in solar power and ethanol blending, while assuring support to Telangana's development.
India has no plans to ration fuel supplies despite ongoing disruptions in global energy markets, according to a top oil ministry official. The country has maintained adequate inventories of crude products and LPG while diversifying imports to manage supply risks.
As of now, no firm has launched a flex-fuel vehicle in India, as these models are more expensive than comparable petrol-run vehicles.
Rising prices of cereals and concerns over rice production in the 2023-2024 crop year due to insufficient rains followed by floods could be the possible causes.
'Crude oil prices are around $66-67 per barrel now but could fall to $55-60 if global disturbances ease.'
The government has no say in where the country's refiners source oil from because these are commercial transactions.
'In all these years of rupee depreciation, of rising oil prices, of inflation caused by import dependence, not one leader had the courage to look the people in the eye and say: Please do this for your country.'
