Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, stated on Tuesday that the government will evaluate the path forward before setting higher ethanol blending targets.
Speaking as the Chief Guest at the KPMG ENRich 2025 event, Puri highlighted the progress India has made in ethanol blending. The country achieved 1.4% ethanol blending in petrol in 2014 and reached 10% blending in November 2022, five months ahead of the scheduled target, as part of the government’s broader sustainability efforts.
“We initially set a target of 20% ethanol blending with a deadline of 2030, but we achieved it six years ahead of schedule. I will put a full stop there. We will now assess where we have to go,” Puri said.
Recently, both consumers and automobile companies have raised concerns regarding the impact of ethanol-blended petrol on engine health, vehicle mileage, and fuel prices. In response, the oil ministry released a statement last month rejecting claims that E20 (20% ethanol) fuel would negatively affect vehicle performance or engine lifespan.
Addressing these concerns, Puri dismissed the allegations, remarking: “If someone drives from Delhi to Gurugram every day, there are 21 reasons why the efficiency of the car might decline by 1-2%, not just because of biofuels,” he said, brushing aside claims that biofuels are harmful to engines.
The ministry recently underlined that ethanol blending since 2014-15 has saved over Rs 1.40 lakh crore in foreign exchange, ensured payments of more than Rs 1.20 lakh crore to farmers, and reduced lakh of tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
Supreme Court had recently dismissed a plea challenging the nationwide rollout of E20 and seeking ethanol-free petrol. Separately, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari described recent criticism of the blending programme as a “paid campaign” against him.
Ethanol blending is a welcome step. It not only save foreign exchange reserve, reduces carbon dioxide emissions, environmental protection, increasing the farmers income and creating jobs for youths and promotes Entrepreneurs and the economy of our country as a whole.