A total of 48 retail outlets managed by public sector oil marketing companies have commenced the commercial distribution of E85 fuel to inaugurate India's high-ethanol blending rollout. Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri launched the initiative at an IndianOil station in New Delhi to mark the transition toward a structured national flex-fuel ecosystem. The government plans to scale the specialized refueling infrastructure to 500 outlets by December 2026 and approximately 5,000 installations by December 2027, supporting broader mandates to push the national aggregate ethanol blending average to nearly 26 percent by the 2030-31 fiscal year.
The newly introduced E85 grade comprises 80 to 85 percent ethanol volume blended with 14 to 19 percent conventional petrol, formulated specifically for flex-fuel vehicles that operate on varying ratios from E20 up to E100. To incentivize adoption, the Ministry has priced E85 approximately Rs 20 per liter lower than conventional petrol.
The Ministry clarified that E85 remains restricted to specialized powertrains and must not be used in standard petrol vehicles. Government statements said that flex-fuel vehicle architectures remain highly competitive with battery electric vehicles due to lower upfront acquisition costs, seamless utilization of existing retail fuel networks, and complete reliance on domestic agricultural supply chains rather than imported critical minerals or battery cells.