To reduce dependence on fossil fuels, the government has already rolled out E20 petrol across the country, but its experiments to blend ethanol with diesel proved unsuccessful. The focus has now shifted to blending diesel with isobutanol, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday.
“Experiments were carried out to blend ethanol with diesel, but they turned out to be unsuccessful. Now efforts are being made to blend diesel with isobutanol, which is a derivative of ethanol,” Gadkari said while addressing the India Sugar & Bio-Energy Conference.
E20 is a government mandate requiring 20 per cent ethanol—produced mainly from sugarcane, maize and rice—to be blended with petrol. The ratio of ethanol to petrol in the mix stands at 20:80. First introduced at select outlets in April 2023, E20 was expanded nationwide and, by April 2025, fully replaced E10, which contained 10 per cent ethanol.
The Minister dismissed recent social media criticism of the ethanol blending programme as a “paid campaign” targeting him personally, adding that the Supreme Court has already dismissed petitions challenging the move. The remarks come amid ongoing debate, with vehicle owners and service centres raising concerns that higher ethanol blends may affect mileage and damage engines in older vehicles.
India, the world’s second-largest sugar producer after Brazil and the third-largest crude oil importer, relies on imports for around 85 per cent of its fossil fuel needs. Gadkari said boosting domestic biofuel production is crucial to cutting this dependence, noting that biofuels are “cheaper and affordable.”
The government is also promoting compressed biogas for use in tractors and expanding biofuel applications in aviation and fertilisers. Feedstocks such as corn, bamboo, rice stalks, and broken juice, along with sugarcane, are being tapped for production. Corn acreage, he said, has already tripled since the government began pushing biofuel adoption.
Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi, also speaking at the event, said India’s sugar and energy sectors are together driving a “success story.”
“Biofuels provide clean and green energy, and they have shown a remarkable transformation in the Indian landscape,” Joshi said, adding that government policies have ensured timely payments to farmers while creating an additional source of income for both farmers and sugar mills.
“Today, we stand at the moment of transformation where the sugarcane farmers, the sugar industry and the energy sectors are making a sheer glory of progress,” he said.
