Govt signals roadmap beyond E20, says ready to support higher blends and flex-fuel vehicles

The Indian government has signalled that the country's ethanol blending programme is being planned beyond the current E20, which falls under the 20% ethanol blending target. The government also said that the country's ethanol production capacity has been created not only to sustain E20 petrol but also to support higher ethanol blends, flex-fuel vehicles and other future biofuel applications.

ANI has reported that in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi said the country's ethanol production capacity has reached about 2,000 crore litres per year and has been developed keeping future requirements in mind. "The ethanol production capacity created in the country has been planned not only to meet the current requirement for E20 blending but also to cater to future growth in petrol demand, provide operational flexibility during seasonal variations in feedstock availability and support higher ethanol blends, flex-fuel vehicles and other emerging biofuel applications, as and when approved by the Government," Gopi said.

This response from the government comes at a time when there's been sharp criticism about the E20, which many motorists claim has been creating problems for their vehicles. The owners of older vehicles have been claiming that E20 caused a significant drop in fuel economy as well as expedited wear and tear of the critical vehicle components. However, the government as well as the automakers have been assuring that E20 is safe for the vehicles.

This clarification comes as the government explained why India's installed ethanol production capacity is significantly higher than the annual requirement for achieving 20% ethanol blending.

The Minister further said in Rajya Sabha that India has achieved 20% ethanol blending during the ongoing Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2025-26, five years ahead of the original 2030 target. Ethanol blending has risen from 1.53% in 2013-14 to 20% during the current supply year, following a series of policy measures including administered ethanol pricing, expansion of approved feedstocks, GST reduction on ethanol for blending, interest subvention, long-term offtake agreements by oil marketing companies and expansion of storage infrastructure.

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