The government is rolling out 50-100 ethanol fuel stations in Delhi-NCR, Pune, Mumbai and Nagpur, with an aim to reduce imports of fossil fuels, Union petroleum and natural gas minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday.
He expressed hope that the network would expand to 500 ethanol dispensing stations by the end of 2026 and to 5,000 stations by the end of 2027.
"I think we are starting with about 50 to 100 (ethanol) dispensing stations in Delhi-NCR region, Pune, Mumbai, and Nagpur, etc. This 50-100 (ethanol) dispensing stations will hopefully go up to 500 towards the end of 2026," Puri said on the sidelines of the launch of India's first flex-fuel car by Maruti Suzuki.
The minister said making Euro VI-compliant vehicles compatible with E100 fuel would further help reduce India's fossil fuel imports, which currently stand at around USD 120 billion annually.
Puri said if half of all new two-wheelers and four-wheelers sold in the country become flex-fuel compliant, India could unlock an additional demand of 311.8 crore litres of ethanol and generate Rs 12,403 crore in additional income for farmers.
He noted that ethanol blending in petrol has risen from 1.5 per cent in 2014 to 20 per cent today, resulting in foreign exchange savings of Rs 1.84 lakh crore through the substitution of 302 lakh metric tonnes of crude oil.
To support wider adoption of alternative fuels, the ministry of road transport and highways has proposed amendments to vehicle emission norms to enable greater use of higher ethanol blends and other cleaner fuels.
The draft amendments to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 seek to facilitate wider use of fuels such as E85, a blend of 85 per cent ethanol and petrol, E100, which allows vehicles to run on nearly pure ethanol, B100 biodiesel, and hydrogen-CNG combinations.
India has already achieved 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol, a milestone aimed at reducing dependence on imported crude oil while lowering carbon emissions.
Puri, along with Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari, also lauded Hero MotoCorp for launching India's first flex-fuel motorcycles — the Splendor+ Flex Fuel and HF Deluxe Flex Fuel — capable of running on petrol blended with up to 85 per cent ethanol.
Priced at Rs 82,710 and Rs 72,792 respectively (ex-showroom Delhi), the motorcycles will be rolled out in Delhi and select regions of Maharashtra in July before a nationwide launch.
"India is rapidly advancing the adoption of alternative fuels and cleaner mobility technologies," Gadkari said, describing Hero MotoCorp's move as a step towards reducing crude oil imports, boosting ethanol adoption and supporting farmers.
Responding to a question on losses being incurred by oil marketing companies (OMCs) due to higher import costs for crude oil, natural gas and LPG while retail prices remain unchanged, Puri said the losses continued to be substantial.
"They are still quite high... Rs 500-550 crore per day loss," he said.
The minister said 60 per cent of India's LPG and 90 per cent of its crude oil imports were routed through the Strait of Hormuz.
"In the 93 or 94 days that have elapsed, there has not been a single dry out anywhere. There has been no shortage," Puri said, asserting that India's fuel supply chain had remained uninterrupted.
He, however, alleged that some individuals had attempted to create panic by spreading misinformation and trying to engineer artificial shortages despite adequate supplies being available.
Puri also said India ranks next only to Japan among major economies in terms of the lowest increase in fuel prices.
