All India Distillers Association Backs Government Decision to Lift Excise Duty on Higher Ethanol Blends

The All India Distillers Association (AIDA) has welcomed the Union Government's policy to exempt petrol blends containing 22 percent to 30 percent ethanol from central excise duty and key national cesses. The mandate covers E22, E25, E27, and E30 petrol grades, extending the exact tax-free treatment previously restricted to the E20 baseline fuel. The industrial body, which serves as the apex representative organization for India's distillery, ethanol, and biorefinery sectors, called the decision a transformative measure that will be crucial for the country's transition beyond current blending thresholds.

The representative body noted that the removal of these tax barriers resolves a critical commercial bottleneck that it says it had consistently raised in policy representations to both the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. By eliminating the Central Excise Duty, the Road and Infrastructure Cess, and the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess, the government has cleared a major hurdle to making higher bio-ethanol deployment financially viable, which the group believes will facilitate the eventual rollout of advanced E85 and E100 fuel ecosystems.

Vijendra Singh, President of the AIDA, stated that the landmark decision signals the country's structural readiness to embrace the next phase of its biofuel journey. He added that the fiscal enabler accelerates the domestic program's shift from a restricted, supply-driven mandate to a demand-driven biofuel economy, which will directly benefit rural agricultural communities by expanding market demand for sugarcane, maize, and alternative feedstocks.