Research on 15% ethanol blending in diesel in advanced stages: Gadkari

Road transport minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday said the research around blending 15% ethanol in diesel is in advanced stages and the government is exploring ways to prioritise it based on sound evidence, urging industry to take up large-scale production of biofuels from biomass.

Addressing the Confederation of Indian Industry's (CII) Bio Energy Summit 2024, Gadkari said ethanol blending in India has surged from 1.53% in 2014 to 15% in 2024.

Spurred by this progress, the government has set an ambitious target of reaching 20% blending in petrol by 2025, he said.


Gadkari said the progress on building an ethanol ecosystem, where ethanol pumps can complement ethanol production and launch of vehicles that can run on ethanol is on fast-track in four states-Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. He pointed out that Indian Oil has decided to put 400 ethanol pump stations. "We are meeting automakers as well, including Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Toyota Motors. These automakers have decided to launch flex-engine cars," he said, adding vehicle makers like TVS Motors, Bajaj Auto and Honda are ready with ethanol bikes and are waiting for the ethanol pumps to come to launch their bikes.

According to Gadkari, India's fossil fuel economy stands at ₹22 lakh crore while the biofuel economy is merely ₹2 lakh crore. "There is a huge scope for expansion and it is a win-win situation for all stakeholders," he said.

Gadkari noted that at a time when parts of the world are at war with themselves and geopolitical uncertainties plague, India's annual fossil fuel import bill at ₹22 lakh crore does not augur well.