Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday pitched for accelerating the shift to 100 per cent flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs) in the backdrop of the ongoing West Asia conflict, saying vulnerabilities in oil supplies make it imperative for India to push energy self-reliance through higher ethanol use.
The crux of the government’s evolving fuel strategy, sources said, is that E20 (20 per cent ethanol) will continue as the universal ‘monofuel’ available across the country, while higher ethanol blends such as E25, E27, E35, E85 and even E100, will be introduced as optional fuels for compatible vehicles, giving consumers the choice to opt for cheaper blends depending on regional ethanol availability.
Fresh notification
The government is parallely working on a fresh notification to facilitate rollout of E100-compatible FFVs, with officials indicating that the push for diversified ethanol blends has gained urgency amid geopolitical risks to crude supplies, even as upcoming Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE-3) norms are expected to have minimal impact on electric and flex-fuel vehicles.
“In the near future, India should aspire to achieve 100 per cent ethanol blending...Today, we are facing an energy crisis due to the war in West Asia, so it is necessary for us to become self-reliant in the energy sector,” Gadkari said, while addressing the Indian Federation of Green Energy’s Green Transport Conclave.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in December 2022 had notified the applicability of test requirements for vehicles that can run on E5 to E85 fuel, a draft notification to replace the condition of E85 to “E85 or more” was issued on June 27, 2025.
But, the final notification could not be issued within the stipulated six months and the process lapsed, and within that period widespread debate had started over the impact of ethanol blended fuel in the vehicles and on the mileage saying, the vehicles required more maintenance.
The Centre had launched petrol blended with 20 per cent ethanol (E20) in 2023 and currently, all vehicles can run on E20 petrol with minor changes to the engine to prevent corrosion and other issues. Countries like Brazil have 100 per cent ethanol (E100) blending.
Gadkari said India relies on imports to meet 87 per cent of its oil requirement, and therefore there is an urgent need for alternative fuel and biofuel.
“We import fossil fuels worth ₹22 lakh crore, which is also causing pollution...so we need to work on increasing production of alternative fuel and biofuel,” he added.
Fuel mix
Meanwhile, sources told businessline that in a meeting of a working group on biofuel, held on Monday, it was proposed that fuel mix up to E100 should be made available across the country.
“The E20 will remain as the monofuel, and other mixtures whether it is E25, E27, E35, E85 or E100, would be available as a choice to the customer. For instance, States where ethanol is available in excess, they can provide the higher blend of fuel as an option to the customer, and where the ethanol is produced in limits, the option can be of of lesser blend. So, customers will have the choice to fill the fuel which is cheaper to them. But, E20 will remain as a monofuel across oil pumps in India,” an official privy to the meeting told businessline.
Published on April 21, 2026