Government has ‘no plans’ to introduce ethanol blending with diesel

The central government has clarified that it has no plan to mandate the blending of ethanol with diesel at this stage. The ethanol being experimented and the initial tests showed formation of deposits in the fuel tanks along with other implications.

Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said in a reply to a supplementary question in the Parliament, “The issue of blending ethanol with diesel is still at an experimental stage, and I can say categorically that at present there is no plan to mandate”.

“We must be very careful to ensure that this does not compromise safety or equipment compatibility,” he warned.

He apprised that oil marketing companies have tested up to 7% ethanol in diesel in collaboration with the ARAI and some OEMs. He said, “The initial tests have shown that there would be a reduction of flashpoint to 15 degrees Celsius with a 5 per cent ethanol blend and we require material compatibility. Equally, fuel stability and oxidation stability. There would be the formation of deposits in the fuel tank and there are series of other implications that follow.”

The minister also announced that ethanol blending with petrol has now reached up to 20 percent. “In 2014, we started with just 1.4 percent ethanol blending in petrol. Today, we have achieved a rate of 15 percent, blending 400 crore liters of ethanol. Our goal is to increase this to 1,000 crore liters by the end of the ethanol blending year 2025,” Puri stated.

India’s current ethanol production capacity stands at 1,364 crore liters, with production facilities spread across many states, including ethanol-surplus states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. This capacity is sufficient to meet the country’s blending targets.