India Looks to Expand Ethanol Use Beyond E20

New Delhi: The government is going ahead with its earlier decision to permit ethanol blending beyond the present E20 level, according to Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council member Tarun Kapoor.

Kapoor, who was addressing virtually the fourth edition of the India Sugar & Bio-Energy Conference 2026, said the next phase would involve blends above E20, but this should be linked to flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs) capable of handling substantially higher ethanol concentrations. He said the E20 programme had been “very successful” so far and that several automobile companies had announced plans to roll out flex-fuel vehicles soon.

He emphasised that India’s ethanol production capacity had grown substantially and was now more than what was required for the current blending of petrol. Hence, the government was looking for additional markets for ethanol. Kapoor said the success of E20 had encouraged the government to focus on flex-fuel vehicles, which would allow higher levels of ethanol blending. E20 refers to petrol blended with 20 per cent ethanol and 80 per cent petrol.

He said biofuels and other alternative energy sources were very important for India and that government policies were now focused on promoting biofuels on a large scale. “The industry has also been very supportive and we’ve got huge capacities,” he added.

The push for biofuels has become more critical amid the West Asia crisis, which has disrupted energy supplies and pushed crude oil prices close to USD 100 a barrel, with fears of a further increase, Kapoor said.

While ethanol has been a major success story, criticism of E20 blending has largely stemmed from misinformation or “motivated reasons”, Kapoor said.

“But then a lot of studies have been done, a lot of experiments have been done, and it has come out that E20 is quite good and works very well. Maybe a little bit of fuel efficiency declines somewhere, but it gets compensated with higher octane,” he said, adding that the issues being faced were generally due to other reasons and not ethanol blending.

Several automobile companies have announced plans to introduce flex-fuel vehicles soon, and the transport sector is expected to see greater traction, he said.

On the diesel segment, Kapoor said the government was looking at biofuel-based additives, noting that experiments with isobutanol could open up a “large” new avenue for biofuels if successful, given diesel’s significant share of refinery output.

Kapoor said the West Asia crisis had made the promotion of biofuels even more important as it had become difficult to ensure uninterrupted fuel supplies, with prices rising and crude oil nearing USD 100 a barrel.

“Therefore, it is important that we try to have whatever is available in the country,” he said.

Kapoor also referred to the government’s GOBARdhan scheme, which brings together incentives from various ministries to promote compressed biogas (CBG), an area where progress has been limited so far.

He urged ethanol manufacturers to also take up compressed biogas production. “That will be something very good,” he said, adding that all biofuel manufacturers should try to maximise the value of their products, including by-products such as potash.

He assured the industry that the government was fully committed to promoting biofuels.

“And we want to promote; we want the market to grow so that the capacity which has been created, whatever investments have been made, those investments don’t have any challenges, or they don’t have any anxieties,” he said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gowriswari V

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A Journey of Three Decades Time passes faster than we realise. What feels like a journey that began only yesterday has today grown into more than three decades of a meaningful and fulfilling life devoted to education, journalism, and the empowerment of young minds. My professional journey began with journalism training in New Delhi in 1979. I went on to work as an independent journalist, drawing on my fluency in both English and Telugu. Over the years, I have edited and worked on Telugu articles in both languages, an experience that strengthened my command of language and sharpened my understanding of society, people, and contemporary issues. Yet, my principal profession and enduring passion have always been teaching. My decision to become a teacher was not merely a career choice—it was a calling. Teaching offered me the rare privilege of inspiring young minds, guiding them through their formative years, and making a lasting difference in their lives. I found immense satisfaction in simplifying complex concepts, nurturing curiosity, encouraging independent thought, and building confidence among students. Every moment in the classroom—every question, every moment of discovery, and every spark of understanding—reminded me why I had chosen this path: to empower young people through knowledge, values, and essential life skills. My teaching career began at the grassroots level as a Montessori teacher and gradually progressed to the position of Vice Principal. I had the opportunity to work in reputed educational institutions, including Dilsukhnagar Public School in Hyderabad, where I shouldered both teaching and administrative responsibilities. Although I have always considered myself, at heart, a teacher, my administrative experience enabled me to understand and contribute to the education system from a much broader perspective. For my students, I have always tried to be an approachable and dependable presence—someone they could turn to not only for academic support, but also for guidance and emotional encouragement. At the same time, I developed a reputation as a firm disciplinarian who believed that integrity, fairness, responsibility, and discipline were fundamental to education. I was also consistently appreciated for maintaining clear communication with parents and staff and for ensuring that examinations and other academic processes were conducted with transparency, fairness, and efficiency. As my career progressed, however, I began to feel that academic education alone was not enough. This realization led me to work more closely with students following the SSC and CBSE curricula, while consciously bringing life-skills education into my teaching. I came to understand that education becomes truly meaningful when it prepares children not merely to pass examinations, but to face life. Teaching emotional resilience, self-reliance, social awareness, communication, decision-making, and other practical life skills often had a deeper and more lasting impact than academic achievement alone. I saw how these skills could help students navigate challenges with greater confidence, maturity, and responsibility. My academic background provided a strong foundation for this approach. My degree in Psychology from the University of Madras helped me develop a deeper understanding of young people's minds, their emotional needs, and the influence of their family and social environments. My M.A. in Telugu with First Class from Osmania University.

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