India launches E85 fuel priced Rs 20 below petrol
India launched E85 fuel for flex-fuel vehicles at 48 stations, priced nearly ₹20/litre below petrol. The government targets 500 stations by 2026 and 5,000 by 2027. E85 could raise ethanol blending to 26% by 2030-31, reduce emissions, cut oil imports, and boost farmer incomes.
New Delhi: India on Friday rolled out E85 fuel, a high-ethanol petrol blend meant for flex-fuel vehicles, with a price nearly Rs 20 per litre lower than conventional petrol as part of its push to expand cleaner and domestically sourced transport fuels.
Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched the fuel at an IndianOil outlet in New Delhi on World Environment Day. The fuel is being introduced at 48 public sector fuel stations across the country and will initially be available only at select outlets.
Puri said the government plans to expand E85 availability to 500 fuel stations by December 2026 and around 5,000 outlets by December 2027.
E85 contains 80-85 per cent ethanol and 14-19 per cent petrol and can only be used in flex-fuel vehicles designed to operate on ethanol blends ranging from E20 to E100.
The minister said India has raised ethanol blending in petrol from 1.53 per cent in 2014 to 20 per cent now, meeting its target five years ahead of schedule. According to him, the programme has saved more than Rs 1.84 lakh crore in foreign exchange and reduced crude oil imports by nearly 302 lakh metric tonnes.
He said wider adoption of E85 could help increase the country’s overall ethanol blending level to nearly 26 per cent by 2030-31. Ministry estimates show that flex-fuel vehicles running on E85 can cut lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by around 61 per cent compared with conventional petrol vehicles.
Puri said if half of all new two-wheelers and passenger vehicles sold in India adopt flex-fuel technology, annual ethanol demand could rise by over 312 crore litres. Such a shift could generate about Rs 12,403 crore in additional income for farmers, save roughly Rs 15,151 crore in foreign exchange each year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 66.4 lakh metric tonnes.
Drawing a comparison with Brazil, where more than 80 per cent of light vehicles use flex-fuel technology, Puri said India was building a national flex-fuel ecosystem. He added that no engine failures linked to ethanol blending had been reported since E20 became the national standard fuel. “Every litre of ethanol replaces imported fossil fuel,” he said. “Every drop of E85 carries the spirit of an Atmanirbhar Bharat.”
To Read more about Ethanol Industry & Bio Energy News continue reading Agriinsite.com
Source : Millennium Post
