Centre To Roll Out Ethanol Fuel Stations In Delhi NCR And Maharashtra

11 Jun 2026 CW Team

The central government will roll out 50 to 100 ethanol fuel stations in Delhi-NCR, Pune, Mumbai and Nagpur as part of a wider push to cut fossil fuel imports, the Union petroleum and natural gas minister Hardeep Singh Puri said at the launch of the country's first flex-fuel car by Maruti Suzuki. The plan envisages expansion to 500 dispensing stations by the end of 2026 and to 5,000 stations by the end of 2027.

The minister said making Euro VI-compliant vehicles compatible with E100 fuel would further reduce imports, which currently stand at around USD 120 billion (bn) annually. He estimated that if half of all new two-wheelers and four-wheelers sold became flex-fuel compliant India could unlock additional demand of 3,118 million (mn) litres of ethanol and generate Rs 124,030 million (mn) in additional income for farmers. The government aims to support farmers and energy security through these measures.

Ethanol blending in petrol has risen from one point five per cent in 2014 to 20 per cent today, and the minister noted foreign exchange savings of Rs 1.84 trillion (tn) through substitution of 30.2 million (mn) t of crude oil. The ministry of road transport and highways has proposed amendments to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 to permit wider use of higher ethanol blends including E85, E100, B100 biodiesel and certain hydrogen-CNG combinations.

Hero MotoCorp has introduced the Splendor+ Flex Fuel and HF Deluxe Flex Fuel motorcycles, priced at Rs 82,710 and Rs 72,792 ex-showroom Delhi, with a July rollout in Delhi and select regions of Maharashtra ahead of a nationwide launch. The minister acknowledged ongoing losses at oil marketing companies and said these remained substantial, at roughly Rs 5,000–5,500 million (mn) per day, while assuring that supply chains had remained uninterrupted.

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