Ethanol Blending Surpasses 18% in December, Dependency on Petroleum Imports to Reduce

The government appears to be making significant progress toward achieving the goal of 20% ethanol blending in petrol. During the current ethanol supply year (2024-25), ethanol blending reached a record high of 18.2% in December. For the supply year starting in November, the total ethanol blending stood at 16.4% by December.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari stated that India is likely to achieve the 20% ethanol blending target within the next two months. Speaking at an event, he mentioned that companies like Tata Motors, Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, and Hyundai Motors have started manufacturing vehicles that run on 100% bio-ethanol. Gadkari emphasised that pollution is a major concern in India, and the 20% ethanol blending initiative will help mitigate air pollution.

According to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), 766 million liters of blended ethanol were supplied in December 2024 under the Ethanol Blending Program (EBP). The total ethanol supply from November to December stood at 1.408 billion liters. Ethanol supplied for blending rose from 4.336 billion liters in 2021-22 to 7.074 billion liters in 2023-24, increasing the blending ratio to 14.6%. For the current ethanol supply year (2024-25), allocations for 9.3 billion liters of ethanol have already been made.

The central government has set a target of achieving 20% ethanol blending by the ethanol supply year 2025-26. Meeting this goal will require approximately 10.16 billion liters of ethanol for blending purposes and a total production of 13.5 billion liters, including other uses.

The ethanol blending initiative began in 2001 as a pilot project. Since then, significant strides have been made in increasing the use of ethanol as a green fuel and reducing reliance on petroleum imports. India achieved its target of 10% ethanol blending ahead of schedule in June 2022. In 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 20% ethanol-blended petrol, initially covering 15 cities. Ethanol is being produced not only from sugarcane but also from broken rice and maize.