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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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"
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.
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 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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
'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.'
As of now, no firm has launched a flex-fuel vehicle in India, as these models are more expensive than comparable petrol-run vehicles.
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.
'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.
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.
Petrol doped with 20 per cent ethanol was rolled out on Monday at select petrol pumps in 11 states and union territories as part of a programme to increase use of biofuels to cut emissions as well as dependence on foreign exchange-draining imports. At present, 10 per cent ethanol is blended in petrol (10 per cent ethanol, 90 per cent petrol) and the government is looking to double this quantity by 2025. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the higher 20 per cent ethanol blended petrol two months ahead of the planned rollout in April, at the India Energy Week (IEW) 2023 in Bengaluru.
Ethanol production in India has an advantage as its production could potentially leave sugar prices unaffected. Further, by blending petrol with 10 per cent bio-fuel, 80 million litres of petrol could be saved annually in the country.
'We are not asking for incentives, but at least taxation can be aligned such that the rupee tax on consumers remains the same.'
The Cabinet is likely to decide on final price of ethanol for blending it with petrol within this month, Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah said on Monday.
Amid the political push and pull, the Centre's decision to allow sugar exports and remove the 50 per cent duty on molasses exports has rekindled hope in the industry that more relief may follow.
Oil marketing companies together would have to make investments of a few hundred crores of rupees to create the facilities that would enable them to blend ethanol in petrol.
The government on Tuesday extended the deadline for the mandatory supply of ethanol-blended petrol in nine major sugarcane-producing states and four union territories by three months to September 30, this year.
The sugar industry is gearing up to offer the entire quantity for the tenders, which will close on September 2.
'What the US appears to be doing is to force India to be "the buyer of last resort", on whom their products can be dumped, 1.4 billion people have to eat something, so why not eat American corn?' 'What is exercising the Trump lot is the fact that most of the farms are in solidly Republican Midwestern states: Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin,' points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
Maharashtra, by this month end, would become only the second state after Uttar Pradesh to sell ethanol doped petrol at all retail outlets, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik said on Monday.
The government on Monday raised the price of ethanol for blending with fuel at Rs 27 per litre from existing Rs 21.50 per litre.
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