E20 petrol already available at 1,350 fuel outlets, on track for pan-India rollout by 2025

E20 petrol, or petrol with 20 per cent ethanol, is now available at 1,350 fuel retail outlets and will be available all over the country by 2025, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said at an industry event on Tuesday. The minister also announced that the Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA) — an initiative by India with support from the United States (US) and Brazil — will be opened to other countries for membership on July 22 at G20 Energy Transition Ministerial Meeting in Goa.

India achieved the target of 10 per cent ethanol blending in petrol in June last year, months ahead of the targeted timeline of November 2022. The success in the ethanol blending programme prompted the government to advance the deadline for pan-India E20 rollout to 2025-26 from 2030.

According to the government, the country is well on track to meet the revised E20 petrol timeline. Sale of E20 petrol was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February this year, starting with 84 retail outlets of public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs). In just about five months, the number of outlets dispensing E20 petrol has jumped to 1,350. In all, India has close to 87,000 fuel retail outlets, with the three OMCs–Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation–having a cumulative market share of over 90 per cent.

“India is a success story in biofuels. India’s bioenergy story has the potential to be replicated in other countries while highlighting the value biofuels can bring to energy security, decarbonisation, and a circular economy to life,” Puri said.

According to the government’s estimates, the ethanol blending programme has translated into foreign exchange savings of over Rs 54,000 crore in the past nine years, while also augmenting India’s energy security. Over the past eight years, the OMCs are estimated to have paid distillers over Rs 82,000 crore for ethanol supplies, of which Rs 48,000 crore went to farmers. As for its environmental impact, the blending programme has so far led to a reduction of 30 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.

For India, which is the world’s third-largest consumer of crude oil and depends on imports to meet over 85 per cent of its requirement of the commodity, increasing the use of biofuels is a key tool towards two ends–reducing dependency on energy imports and limiting the carbon footprint of the country’s rapidly growing energy use.

“Globally, sustainable biofuels are one of the most important alternative sources of energy and will significantly contribute in achieving net zero (emissions). It is already economically viable and hence is in the forefront of emerging fuels,” Puri said.

Speaking about the Global Biofuels Alliance, which has been in the works for some time now and is seen as a key initiative under India’s G20 presidency, Puri said, “This will be a landmark event in the history of global energy market and has huge potential on the lines of OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)”. He added that several countries are willing to join the alliance.

The US and Brazil, which are working with India to build the GBA, are seen as global leaders in biofuels and account for 55 per cent and 27 per cent of global ethanol production, respectively. The GBA is also being supported by major international organisations like the World Economic Forum, the International Energy Forum, and the International Energy Agency, among others.

Underscoring the need of a global biofuels body, Puri said that while sustainable biofuels have huge potential, there are a number of hurdles as well, including feedstock supply issues, technological limitations, policy framework, and financing and investment.