India to launch cheap E85 ethanol‑fuel to ease petrol prices

The Indian government is preparing a large‑scale rollout of E85 flex‑fuel, a blend of up to 85% ethanol and 15% petrol, which will be priced about ₹20 per litre lower than regular petrol. Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri announced that the fuel will first be sold at 50‑100 stations in the Delhi‑NCR and Mumbai‑Pune‑Nagpur corridor, expanding to around 500 stations by the end of 2026 and roughly 5,000 by the end of 2027.

The policy aims to boost ethanol consumption, with the minister estimating that if half of new two‑ and four‑wheelers adopt flex‑fuel technology, ethanol demand could rise to about 4 billion litres, cutting India’s crude‑oil import bill (currently about $120 billion) and providing extra income to farmers. Vehicle manufacturers are already introducing flex‑fuel models: Maruti Suzuki launched a WagonR variant and Hero MotoCorp offered flex‑fuel versions of its Splendor Plus and HF Deluxe motorcycles.

The initiative is part of a broader push to increase the share of ethanol in fuel blends, which has risen from 1.5% in 2014 to a target of 20% today, and to diversify the country’s energy sources.