On , SGS INSPIRE reported about the Indian governments plans to accelerate the mandate of ethanol to account for 20% of total gasoline sold in the country, from 2030 to 2025. On June 2, 2021, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) published Ministerial Notification No. S.O. 2133(E) in the , directing all oil companies to sell gasoline with ethanol content of up to 20% v/v from April 1, 2023. Furthermore, MoPNG has instructed oil marketing companies to make E20 available in 11 cities/union territories of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Goa, Daman Diu & Nagar Haveli, Karnataka, Bihar, Maharashtra, and Punjab.
On the same day, the central government’s think tank, NITI Aayog, and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas released the . Under the roadmap, MoPNG should ensure that E10 (10% v/v ethanol blended with 90% v/v of conventional gasoline) is available across the country by April 2022 and will continue to be available until 2025 mainly for older vehicles. After that, E10 will gradually be phased out.
Furthermore, the roadmap also suggested that intermediate blends between E10 and E20, such as E12 (12% v/v ethanol blended with 88% v/v conventional gasoline) or E15 (15% v/v ethanol blended with 85% v/v conventional gasoline) may be unintentionally created as a result of dispensing switching between E10 and E20 at the pump stations. Thus, the Bureau of Indian Standards may formulate and release specifications of E12 and E15 before April 1, 2023.
The government also encourages automotive manufacturers to start promoting flex fuel vehicles. In fact, TVS has started manufacturing motorcycles running on E100 (100% pure ethanol). According to TVS, the motorcycle can also run on E80 at a minimum. However, at present, there is no E85 (85% v/v ethanol blended with 15% v/v conventional gasoline) or E100 being sold at any fuel retail stations.
To promote the consumption of E20 and compensate for the reduction in caloric value of the blend compared with conventional gasoline or E10, the government is contemplating to provide tax incentives for fuel ethanol. Thus, the retail price of E20 is expected to be lower than that of E10 and conventional gasoline.
India’s Ethanol Blending Petrol (EBP) program started in 2003 with E5 (5% v/v ethanol blended with 95% conventional gasoline) in nine states and four union territories. The program was expanded to include 20 states and four union territories effectively from November 1, 2006. However, the market share of ethanol in total gasoline sold in the country was hovered around 0.1% to 1.5% until 2014, mainly due to the availability of fuel ethanol and pricing issues.
From December 2014, the government re-introduced administered ethanol’s price mechanisms for fuel ethanol under the EBP program. It also directed state owned oil marketing companies to set up bio-refineries to increase the availability of ethanol.
In July 2018, the government expanded the types of feedstocks for ethanol production to include B heavy molasses, sugarcane juice and damaged food grains. At the same time, it fixed differentiated ex-mill ethanol price based on feedstock.
The continues efforts by the government to ensure ethanol availability has increased ethanol market share from 1.53% in ethanol supply year (ESY) 2013-2014 to 5.00% in ESY 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. The government expects the share to reach 8.5% in ESY 2020-2021. Based on the current trend, SGS INSPIRE estimates that domestic ethanol production may not be sufficient to meet ethanol demand for a nationwide E20 implementation by 2025. Note that only domestic ethanol can be used for the EBP program. Thus, it is highly likely that E10 will still be available in the country alongside E20 from 2025 onwards. The figure below shows India’s ethanol consumption from 2013-2014 to 2020-2021. More details on India's ethanol mandate is available in report.
Ethanol consumption in India, 2013-2021
Note: ESY run from December to November of the following year
Source: Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, 2021
SGS INSPIRE fuel quality database provides information about fuel specifications applicable in India.