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No decision yet on ethanol blending beyond E20: Government tells Parliament
Suresh Gopi said: “So far, no decision has been taken by the Government for increasing ethanol blending with petrol beyond 20%.”
The government on Monday told Parliament that it has taken no decision to increase the mandatory ethanol blending in petrol beyond 20%, saying any move towards higher blends would be preceded by detailed scientific studies and consultations with stakeholders.
Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha on proposals to increase ethanol blending beyond 20% (E20), minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Suresh Gopi said: “So far, no decision has been taken by the Government for increasing ethanol blending with petrol beyond 20%.”
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Gopi added that “any future decision regarding higher ethanol blends will be taken only after detailed scientific and technical studies and consultations with all relevant stakeholders, including automobile manufacturers, Oil Marketing Companies and research institutions.”
The clarification follows the petroleum ministry’s June 5 announcement of a phased expansion of 85% ethanol-blended petrol (E85), prompting questions over whether the government was reconsidering plans to promote higher ethanol blends.
However, a government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the parliamentary reply referred to the national ethanol blending programme for conventional petrol, while the E85 initiative is a separate programme intended for flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs).
The June 5 initiative was aimed at facilitating the adoption of FFVs capable of operating on ethanol blends ranging from E20 to E100, without restricting consumers to a single blend, the official said.
“The answer in the Parliament is in the context of base blending of ethanol whereas E85 is to cater to the specific flex fuel vehicles,” the official said.
According to the petroleum ministry’s June 5 statement, Union petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched E85 fuel at an Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) retail outlet in New Delhi on World Environment Day.
The ministry had said E85 would initially be made available at 48 retail outlets operated by public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs), before being expanded to 500 outlets by December 2026 and about 5,000 outlets by December 2027.
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“The rollout commences across 48 Public Sector OMC retail outlets in the country, enabling flex-fuel vehicle users to access this cleaner fuel. The initiative is slated for nationwide expansion. The same would be scaled up to 500 ROs by December 2026 and about 5,000 ROs by December 2027 and help raise India’s aggregate ethanol blending levels to nearly 26 per cent by 2030-31,” the ministry had said.
Gopi also rejected the premise that E20 is a new or suddenly introduced fuel. “Ethanol has been used as a transport fuel globally for over a century, and India’s Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme commenced with a pilot in 2001,” he said.
“Rather than a sudden shift, the transition to E20 has been phased, calibrated and evidence-based, with blending increasing progressively from 1.53% in 2013-14 to 20% in 2025-26 after scientific evaluation and stakeholder consultations at every stage,” he added.
