News: India has successfully achieved 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol in 2025, five years ahead of its original target set for 2030.
About Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme (EBP Programme)
- It is a flagship initiative to promote the use of ethanol by blending it with petrol.
- Launched in: It was launched in January, 2003.
- Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoP&NG)
- Aim: It sought to promote the use of alternative and environment friendly fuels and to reduce import dependency for energy requirements.
- Targets: As per the programme targets, India has to achieve 10% blending rate (E10) by 2021-22 and 20% blending rate (E20) by 2025-26.
- The National Policy of Biofuels-2018, as amended in 2022, advanced the target of 20% blending of ethanol in petrol to Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2025-26 from 2030.
- Coverage: It is being implemented across the country except Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
- Procurement of ethanol
- The Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) are to procure ethanol from domestic sources.
- Government has notified administered price of ethanol since 2014.
- Status
- Ethanol blending in petrol has risen from just 1.5% in 2014 to 20% in 2025, a nearly 13-fold increase over 11 years.
- Ethanol production has surged from 38 crore litres in 2014 to 661.1 crore litres by June 2025.
- Savings: India has saved approximately 1.36 lakh crore rupees in foreign exchange by reducing its dependency on imported crude oil.
- About 1.96 lakh crore rupees have been paid to distilleries, fueling the growth of the domestic biofuel industry.
- Additionally, 1.18 lakh crore rupees have been disbursed to farmers, thereby enhancing rural incomes and supporting the agricultural economy.
- The increased use of ethanol-blended petrol has helped reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 698 lakh tonnes, contributing to India’s climate goals.
About Ethanol
|
