Govt aims ethanol blending beyond E20, to be enabled via flexi-fuel vehicles

The Indian government is working towards a higher ethanol blending program, under which ethanol blending in petrol will see a higher ratio than the current E20, which comes with 20% ethanol blended. The higher blending of ethanol will be enabled across India via flex-fuel vehicles, which can support higher ethanol-blended petrol.

Advisor to Prime Minister Tarun Kapoor said that the government is working to permit ethanol blending beyond the existing E20 level, which will be enabled through flexi-fuel vehicles. Kapoor also said that the E20 programme has been very successful so far and several automobile companies have announced their plans to roll out flexi-fuel vehicles soon. "E20 has been very successful. Now our focus is on going into flexi-fuel vehicles and allowing blending at a percentage which will be higher than E20, and it will have to be through flexi-fuel vehicles," PTI quoted Kapoor as saying.

Indian government made E20 standard petrol across the country from April 2026. This came before the actual deadline for the E20 program. E20 is a blend of 80% petrol and 20% ethanol. The 95 octane petrol, which is a premium one, is also sold with 20% ethanol blending. Since the mandatory rollout of this fuel, there has been controversy around the impact of E20 on vehicles, especially on the older ones. Many vehicle owners have complained that they are facing significantly reduced fuel economy as well as increased wear and tear of critical vehicle components. However, the government and auto companies have maintained that E20 is safe for the vehicles.

Kapoor said that biofuels and other alternative energy sources are very important for India, and government policies are now focused on promoting biofuels on a large scale. "The industry has also been very supportive, and we've got huge capacities," he said. The Advisor to the Prime Minister further said that this push for biofuels has become more critical amid the West Asia crisis, which has disrupted supplies and pushed crude oil prices to nearly $100 a barrel, with fears of a further increase. "It is important that we try to have whatever is available in the country," he said, while adding that ethanol production capacity in the country has surpassed blending requirements, and the industry will need to explore additional uses for ethanol to fully utilise the surplus capacity.

While ethanol has been a great success story, criticism of E20 blending has largely stemmed from misinformation or motivated reasons, Kapoor said. "A lot of studies have been done, a lot of experiments have been done, and it has come out that E20 is quite good and works very well. Maybe a little bit of fuel efficiency declines somewhere, but it gets compensated with higher octane," he reportedly said, adding that the issues being faced are generally due to other reasons, not the blending.

With several auto companies having announced that they are coming up with flexi-fuel vehicles very soon, there should be good numbers of flex-fuel models in the market, he said, adding that supply of pure ethanol and related additives at petrol stations also needs to expand in tandem with availability of flex-fuel vehicles.

Beyond petrol, the government is focusing on biofuel blending in diesel as well. Speaking on that, Kapoor said the government is looking at biofuel-based additives, noting that experiments with isobutanol could open up a large new avenue for biofuels if successful, given diesel's significant share of refinery output.

Get insights into Upcoming Cars In India, Electric Vehicles, Upcoming Bikes in India and cutting-edge technology transforming the automotive landscape.