India Pushes for 100% Ethanol Blending to Reduce Oil Imports

The Government of India is accelerating a strategic shift toward alternative fuels to reduce its 87% reliance on imported oil, which costs approximately Rs 22 lakh crore. Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari called for the country to aspire toward 100% ethanol blending in the near future, citing the energy crisis and geopolitical tensions in West Asia as primary drivers for energy self-reliance. Gadkari also identified green hydrogen as a future export opportunity, provided production costs can be lowered to $1 per kilogram.

To support these goals, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is developing testing norms for vehicles compliant with E85 to E100 fuel. Joint Secretary Sujata Sharma noted that increasing the base fuel is an idea whose time has arrived, though current blending levels remain at 20%. The government is currently consulting with automakers and oil marketing companies to scale these targets, while Gadkari urged automobile companies to prioritize quality over cost to increase the penetration of flex-fuel vehicles.

Parallel efforts are expanding into the aviation sector. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas amended the Aviation Turbine Fuel (Regulation of Marketing) Order, 2001, to allow the blending of ethanol and synthetic hydrocarbons. This regulatory change enables the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), with a phased blending schedule for international flights targeting 1% by 2027, 2% by 2028, and 5% by 2030. To further decouple from volatile markets, the government is also promoting electric induction cooktops as an alternative to liquefied petroleum gas.