India’s clean fuel journey is accelerating, with state-run oil companies preparing to roll out discounted E85 gasoline across the country. State-run oil marketing companies will offer E85 fuel at a discount of Rs 20 per liter compared to E20 petrol to compensate for the lower energy content of the biofuel, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said after inaugurating an E85 distribution facility at a petrol pump in Delhi.E85 is a fuel blend containing 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. Ethanol has about a third less energy than gasoline, and the discount is offered to compensate users for this difference. The current E20 blend, which contains 20% ethanol and 80% petrol, will continue to be available at all fuel stations as most vehicles on Indian roads are compatible with blends up to 20% ethanol.
The government plans to expand the availability of ethanol-blended fuel in phases.
According to Puri, the launch will begin with around 50 to 100 ethanol distribution stations in Delhi-NCR, Pune, Mumbai and Nagpur. The network is expected to grow to 500 stations by the end of 2026 and to 5,000 stations across the country by the end of 2027.“I think we have started with about 50-100 (ethanol) distribution stations in Delhi-NCR, Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur, etc. We hope that the number of 50-100 (ethanol) distribution stations will go up to 500 by the end of 2026,” Puri said.
The expansion of ethanol distribution infrastructure comes alongside efforts to increase the number of vehicles capable of using higher blends of ethanol. In recent days, both Maruti Suzuki and Hero MotoCorp have introduced a vehicle model that can run on E85 fuel.The simultaneous introduction of compatible vehicles and gas stations would support broader adoption of E85 fuel, Puri said. The minister also linked increased use of ethanol to reduced dependence on imported fossil fuels, noting that India’s fossil fuel import bill amounts to about $120 billion.He said making Euro VI vehicles compatible with E100 fuel, which is pure ethanol without any gasoline blend, will help reduce the import burden. Indian Oil already operates around 400 fuel stations capable of distributing E100 fuel across Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.Highlighting the potential economic impact of flex-fuel vehicles, Puri said that if half of all two-wheelers and four-wheelers newly manufactured in the country become flex-fuel compatible, it could create an additional ethanol demand worth 311.8 crore liters and generate Rs 12,403 crore in additional income for farmers.The minister said India has already achieved 20% ethanol-petrol blend, compared to 1.5% in 2014. According to him, the program has led to foreign exchange savings of Rs 1.84 lakh crore by replacing 302,000 metric tonnes of crude oil.