NEW DELHI, October 2 — The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) on Friday confirmed that India achieved an all-time record average of 15.6 percent ethanol blending in motor petrol across the ongoing Ethanol Supply Year (ESY), progressing firmly toward the accelerated 20 percent national target.
According to official petroleum consumption audits, public sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs)—Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum—have rolled out E20 blend (20 percent anhydrous ethanol and 80 percent motor spirit) dispensing infrastructure across more than 4,000 retail fuel outlets nationwide. The aggressive biofuel substitution has compressed national crude oil import bills by over ₹95,000 crore, displaced 520 lakh metric tonnes of crude petroleum, and abated 45 million metric tonnes of net greenhouse gas emissions.
Petroleum Ministry officials highlighted that dedicated grain-based distilleries utilizing surplus maize and broken rice alongside conventional sugarcane molasses have expanded domestic ethanol distillation capacity past 1,580 crore litres per annum. Timely procurement payments transferred more than ₹85,000 crore directly to rural sugarcane farmers and grain growers.
The policy architecture of the National Policy on Biofuels 2018 (amended in 2022 advancing the E20 blending deadline from 2030 to ESY 2025-26), technical differentiation between 1G and 2G cellulosic ethanol bio-refineries, the Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN (Jaiv Indhan - Vatavaran Anukool Fasal Awashesh Nivaran) Yojana, and energy security geopolitics are core topics across UPSC Civil Services (GS-III: Energy Transition & Agriculture) and State PSC examinations.