Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Jun 6: India's clean fuel transition received a major boost on Friday as state-run oil marketing companies announced plans to sell E85 petrol at a discount of Rs 20 per litre compared to E20 fuel, aiming to encourage wider adoption of higher ethanol blends across the country.

The announcement was made by Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri after inaugurating an E85 fuel dispensing facility at a petrol station in New Delhi.

E85 is a fuel blend comprising 85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent petrol. Since ethanol contains nearly one-third less energy than conventional petrol, the discounted pricing has been introduced to offset the lower energy content and make the fuel more attractive to consumers.

The existing E20 fuel, which contains 20 per cent ethanol and 80 per cent petrol, will continue to be available at all fuel stations as most vehicles currently on Indian roads are compatible with ethanol blends up to 20 per cent.

Puri said the rollout of E85 fuel would begin in phases, with around 50 to 100 ethanol dispensing stations initially being established in Delhi-NCR, Pune, Mumbai and Nagpur.

“I think we are starting with about 50 to 100 ethanol dispensing stations in Delhi-NCR region, Pune, Mumbai and Nagpur. This 50-100 dispensing stations will hopefully go up to 500 towards the end of 2026,” he said.

According to the minister, the network is expected to expand to 500 stations by the end of 2026 and further grow to 5,000 stations across the country by the end of 2027.

The expansion comes alongside efforts by automobile manufacturers to introduce vehicles capable of running on higher ethanol blends. Recently, Maruti Suzuki and Hero MotoCorp launched vehicle models compatible with E85 fuel.

Puri said the simultaneous availability of compatible vehicles and ethanol dispensing infrastructure would help accelerate the adoption of E85 fuel.

He also highlighted the role of ethanol in reducing India's dependence on imported fossil fuels. India's annual fossil fuel import bill currently stands at around USD 120 billion.

The minister said making Euro VI-compliant vehicles compatible with E100 fuel, which consists entirely of ethanol without any petrol blend, could significantly reduce the country's import burden.

Currently, Indian Oil Corporation operates nearly 400 fuel stations capable of dispensing E100 fuel across Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Highlighting the economic benefits of flex-fuel vehicles, Puri said that if half of all newly manufactured two-wheelers and four-wheelers become flex-fuel compliant, it could generate an additional demand of 311.8 crore litres of ethanol and provide Rs 12,403 crore in additional income to farmers.

The minister noted that India has already achieved 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol, a significant increase from just 1.5 per cent in 2014.

According to him, the ethanol blending programme has helped save foreign exchange worth Rs 1.84 lakh crore by replacing 302 lakh metric tonnes of crude oil, underscoring its contribution to India's energy security and economic sustainability.