Ethanol blending in petrol reached a record 14.6 per cent during the Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2023-24, with over 7 billion litres of ethanol blended, representing a notable rise from 5 per cent and 1.88 billion litres in ESY 2018-19. Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Suresh Gopi, informed the Rajya Sabha about this development. He noted that the government’s Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme had achieved nationwide coverage across all retail outlets as of 2024, up from 43,168 outlets in 2019.

According to data provided by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), the EBP Programme has resulted in foreign exchange savings of Rs 750 billion since 2018. The annual savings have grown from Rs 55 billion in ESY 2018-19 to Rs 284 billion in ESY 2023-24 (as of September 2024).

The programme has facilitated payments of Rs 575.52 billion to farmers over the last three years, with sugarcane farmers being the primary beneficiaries. It has also helped replace 110 lakh metric tonne of crude oil and reduced net CO2 emissions by approximately 332 lakh metric tonnes during this period.

To enhance ethanol blending, the government has introduced measures such as expanding the range of feedstocks for ethanol production, setting administered price mechanisms for cane-based ethanol, and implementing Ethanol Interest Subvention Schemes (EISS). Furthermore, Long-Term Offtake Agreements (LTOAs) between oil marketing companies (OMCs) and dedicated ethanol plants (DEPs) have provided additional support for the initiative.