In July, India announced the launch of the Global Biofuel Alliance, aimed at promoting international collaboration and accelerating the development and adoption of biofuels. The formal launch is planned at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi in September this year.
At the Auto Expo 2023 in January, featuring an Ethanol Pavilion for the first time, Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, emphasized India’s progress in ethanol blending. The country had increased its blending rate from 1.53 percent in 2013-14 to 10.17 percent by 2022.
Having achieved its 10 percent ethanol blending target, also known as E10, five months ahead of schedule in June 2022, India now aims to achieve a 20 percent blend, or E20, by the end of 2025.
This rise in ethanol utilization had yielded significant benefits, including savings of over USD 5 billion in foreign exchange, a reduction of 27 lakh million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, and had supported farmers with payments worth approximately USD 5 billion over the past eight years.
In 2018, India introduced the National Biofuels Policy, which encompasses blending targets, production incentives, tax exemptions, and import restrictions on ethanol for fuel blending, providing a foundation to promote the growth of the biofuel industry.
The Global Biofuel Alliance will involve nineteen countries and serve as “an international platform for sharing best practices, promoting sustainable biofuel development, and enhancing its application”. The United States, Brazil and India will lead the alliance, aiming to speed up the transition to sustainable fuels while reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
Following Brazil’s lead, India intends to introduce Flex Fuel Vehicles, capable of running on a wide range of fuel blends, from zero to E85 (an ethanol-petrol blend containing 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent petrol). This would significantly reduce emissions and contribute to important savings in India’s crude oil import bill.
