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India achieves 10% ethanol blending 5 months ahead of schedule

Posted Date : 21-06-2022

On the occasion of 50th World Environment Day, celebrated on June 5, the Prime Minister has declared that India has achieved 10% ethanol blending in petrol.

Under the guidance of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), the Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), with the support of ethanol suppliers have been blending ethanol in petrol under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme, which is a flagship programme of the Government.

According to a government press release, the three OMCs - Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) - achieved this milestone of average 10% blending across the count FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE try five months ahead of the targeted timelines of November, 2022.

Due to the various steps taken by the Government in the last eight years, the availability of ethanol for blending is expected to go up to 450-crore litres in the current Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) from 67-crore litres in 2014. This has resulted in significant improvement in the ethanol blending percentage from 2.33% in 2014 to presently 10% and also enabled forex savings of over Rs 41.500-crore, reduced GHG emission of 27-mt and led to the expeditious development of over Rs. 40,600-crore to farmers. On the occasion, the Prime Minister also released a Roadmap for Ethanol Blending in India, 2020-25 This report lays out an annual plan for the gradual rollout of E20 (20% Ethanol Blended Petrol) in the country by 2025-26, of which this present achievement of 10% blending is an intermediate milestone.

In order to meet the gap between current availability and the future requirements of ethanol for the EBP programme, the OMCs, under the guidance of MoPNG, have now signed long term off-take agreements with 131 upcoming dedicated ethanol plants in ethanol deficit States, which will augment the ethanol production capacity by approximately 750-crore liters per annum.