Flex-fuel vehicles better fit for India than E25 rollout: AIDA

Flex-fuel vehicles are a better option for India than rolling out E25 petrol blends because they address concerns over engine performance and fuel efficiency, making them easier to implement, All India Distillers' Association president Vijendra Singh said.

A national debate has been raging over the impact of 20% ethanol-blended petrol (E20) on the engines and fuel efficiency of vehicles not designed to run on such fuel, with many consumers demanding either a rollback of the programme or the option to buy petrol with a lower or zero ethanol blend.

Singh said rolling back the E20 programme was not an option and that owners of vehicles not designed for the fuel should approach automobile manufacturers for assistance. “If some tuning is required, they should get the car engine tuned for that,” he said.


A rollback would raise fuel prices, increase crude oil imports and hurt farmers' incomes, Singh said. “The whole ecosystem built up with the hard work of 10-15 years will go to waste.”

India launched its National Policy on Biofuels in 2018, offering 50% interest subvention to entrepreneurs to encourage the creation of new ethanol production capacity. State-run oil marketing companies also provided offtake guarantees to producers. As a result, distillers invested Rs 50,000-60,000 crore to add 12 billion litres of annual ethanol production capacity since 2018, taking the country's total capacity to about 20 billion litres, Singh said.

India currently consumes about 11 billion litres of ethanol under the blending programme, while another 3 billion litres is used by other consumers, leaving around 6 billion litres of annual production capacity unutilised.

This is a “temporary mismatch between capacity and consumption”, which will disappear over the next few years as the petrol vehicle fleet expands and flex-fuel vehicles gain wider acceptance, Singh said.

“A flex fuel vehicle is a better solution for the country than E25 or E30 because it kills the whole discussion around the engine problem, average (mileage) problem. It is easier to implement than E25 or E30,” Singh said.

Flex-fuel engines can run on petrol containing varying proportions of ethanol. A few flex-fuel car and motorcycle models have been launched in India recently, while fuel retailers have begun installing E85 dispensing facilities at select outlets.

The government has been testing E25 fuel on vehicles ahead of a possible rollout. “It should be rolled out with due diligence and proper study, and if found suitable,” Singh said.

Flex-fuel vehicles should receive incentives similar to those offered to electric vehicles to speed up their adoption, Singh said. Several states offer tax incentives to EVs.