Well before the Indian government announced that it had achieved its target of 20% ethanol blending in petrol, five years ahead of the 2030 deadline, questions were already being raised about whether the programme was delivering on its stated goals.
Vehicle owners reported reduced fuel efficiency, while some questioned whether their vehicles were compatible with E20 fuel. Others asked why non-blended petrol was not available as an option.
Even a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the Supreme Court.
Nitin Gadkari and Hardeep Singh Puri, the ministers who run road transport and petroleum respectively, dismissed the criticism as “vested interests” and “fear-mongering.”
Where the Idea Came From
The 1973 oil crisis sent crude prices through the roof worldwide. Brazil, in 1975, with Pró-Álcool, through a government-funded plan to swap petrol for sugarcane ethanol.
India’s July 2026 FAQ read that “Brazil built the world’s first large ethanol ecosystem from scratch, which naturally took decades. India had the advantage of learning from that experience.”
Timeline
2001: India ran its first small ethanol-blending trial in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
2003-04: The government formalised the Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme, mandating 5 percent blending in nine states and four union territories.
2006: The 5 percent blend, E5, spread to more states nationwide.
October 2008: The government made 5 percent ethanol blending mandatory nationwide, across 20 states and four union territories, and set a goal of 20 percent blending by 2017, according to ICRIER’s policy review.
2008-09: The mandate fell apart in practice. Oil companies tried to buy 1,800 million litres of ethanol under three-year contracts but secured only 1,404 million litres through tenders, and actually received just 322 million litres, about 17 percent of what 5 percent blending needed.
Late 2008: A planned jump to 10 percent blending got shelved. Ethanol suppliers won’t sell at the government’s fixed price of ₹21.50/litre, and automakers raised doubts about whether engine parts can handle it. The mandate quietly turned into a soft target, according to the same ICRIER report.
December 2009: The government issued its first National Policy on Biofuels, repeating the 5 percent mandate and the 2017 goal. A 2020 academic review later called it well-intentioned but undone by “faulty execution and policy flip-flops.”
2011: India’s blending rate sat near 0.5 percent, while the US and Brazil were already blending in double digits, India Foundation noted.
November 22, 2012: The government scrapped the fixed ethanol price and let oil companies negotiate directly with distilleries, according to Arthapedia.
January 2013: The policy got a formal Gazette notification, targeting 5 percent blending in 10 states and union territories. Blending still sat near 1.5 percent — sugarcane alone can’t supply enough ethanol.
2014: A new pricing system for ethanol producers started to turn that around.
May 2018: The National Policy on Biofuels widened ethanol’s raw material base beyond sugarcane, to maize, damaged grains and surplus food stock, and turned the programme into a whole-of-government effort spanning six ministries.
July 2018: The government launched the Ethanol Interest Subvention Scheme and cuts GST on ethanol from 18 percent to 5 percent, making it cheaper to produce and finance.
2019: Blending crossed 5 percent nationwide, according to government data.
June 2021: Niti Aayog’s roadmap set a 10 percent target for November 2022, estimates a roughly 6 percent mileage hit at 20 percent blending, and recommended E20-compliant vehicles roll out from April 2023.
August 2021: IOCL, BPCL and HPCL issued Expressions of Interest for Dedicated Ethanol Plants in ethanol-deficit regions, backed by guaranteed purchase agreements and bank financing, the step that actually solved India’s supply shortage.
May 2022: The Cabinet amended the 2018 policy, formally advancing the E20 deadline from 2030 to 2025-26. India hit 10 percent blending five months early, saving a reported ₹41,500 crore in forex, cutting 27 lakh tonnes of emissions, and paying farmers ₹40,600 crore.
February 2023: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches E20 fuel in Bengaluru and flagged off a Green Mobility Rally, the programme’s first big public moment.
February 6, 2023: State oil companies started selling E20 at retail pumps for the first time.
April 2023: Every new petrol vehicle sold had to be E20-ready. By year’s end, E20 was available at roughly 15,600 outlets, still short of full coverage.
September 9, 2023: Modi launched the Global Biofuel Alliance at the G20 Summit in New Delhi, alongside the US, Brazil and six other founding countries.
2023-24: Blending climbed to 14.6 percent nationwide.
August 2024: The Cabinet approved a modified Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN Yojana, extending funding to Sustainable Aviation Fuel projects.
March 6, 2025: The government let cooperative sugar mills convert into multi-feed ethanol plants, not just sugarcane-based ones.
April 2025: E20 became mandatory for the whole fleet, old cars included, not just new ones.
July 2025: The government said it’s hit 20 percent, five years ahead of plan.
August 2025: Anger went national, two Lucknow fuel station managers tell Reuters drivers had started abusing them over the fuel switch. Renault tells customer Ankur Thakur his 2022 Triber was “not tested” for E20, an email that gets over 700,000 views before the company backtracked.
September 2025: The Supreme Court threw out an early petition against E20.
May 2026: The Bureau of Indian Standards cleared IS 19850:2026, covering blends up to E30.
June 5, 2026: E85 fuel went live at 48 stations, targeting 5,000 by 2027.
June 2026: A LocalCircles survey of 44,000-plus owners finds 66 percent of pre-2023 car owners reported mileage drops over 10 percent.
June 30, 2026: The government’s own Supreme Court filing became the flashpoint, over whether it called E20 an “experiment.”
July 2026: Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge accused the Centre of running an “experiment” on 3.6 crore vehicle owners. The government fired back with a detailed FAQ, citing Maruti Suzuki’s service records on 2.84 crore vehicles as proof no wave of E20 damage ever showed up.
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