On Monday, the government informed Parliament that it had not taken any decision to increase the mandatory mixing rate of ethanol in gasoline to more than 20%, considering that any move towards higher mixtures would be preceded by detailed scientific studies and consultations with relevant authorities.
Responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha on proposals to increase blending of ethanol to more than 20% (E20), Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi said: “So far, the government has not taken any decision to increase blending of ethanol with petrol to more than 20%.”
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“Any future decision on higher ethanol blends will only be taken after detailed scientific and technical studies and consultations with all relevant stakeholders, including automobile manufacturers, oil marketing companies and research institutions,” Gopi added.
This clarification follows the Petroleum Ministry’s announcement on June 5 of a phased expansion of the use of gasoline blended with 85% ethanol (E85), raising questions about whether the government is reconsidering its plans to encourage higher ethanol blends.
However, a government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the parliamentary response refers to the national program for blending ethanol with conventional gasoline, while the E85 initiative is a separate program dedicated to flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs).
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The June 5 initiative aims to facilitate the adoption of FFVs capable of running on ethanol blends ranging from E20 to E100, without restricting consumers to a single blend, the official said.
“The answer in Parliament is in the context of primary blending of ethanol, while E85 is to meet the needs of specific flex-fuel vehicles,” the official said.
According to a Petroleum Ministry statement issued on June 5, Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched E85 fuel at one of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) retail outlets in New Delhi on World Environment Day.
E85 will initially be made available at 48 retail outlets operated by public sector oil marketing companies, before expanding to 500 outlets by December 2026 and about 5,000 outlets by December 2027, the ministry said.
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“The rollout begins across 48 public sector OMC retail outlets in the country, enabling users of flex-fuel vehicles to access this clean fuel. The initiative is set to be expanded nationwide. It will be scaled up to OMR 500 by December 2026 and approximately OMR 5,000 by December 2027, and help raise India’s overall ethanol blending levels to nearly 26 per cent by 2030-31,” “
Jobe also rejected the hypothesis that E20 is a new fuel or was suddenly introduced. “Ethanol has been used as a transportation fuel globally for more than a century, and the Ethanol Blended Gasoline (EBP) program was started in India as a pilot in 2001,” he said.
“Rather than an abrupt shift, the transition to E20 has been phased, calibrated and evidence-based, with blends gradually increasing from 1.53% in 2013-2014 to 20% in 2025-2026 after scientific evaluation and stakeholder consultations at each stage,” he added.
