Ethanol blending in diesel lowers the fuel’s flash point sharply, preventing wider adoption until safety and technical concerns are resolved.
Key Highlights:
- Ethanol-blended diesel failed the required flash-point specification.
- Ethanol sharply lowers diesel’s flash point, raising safety concerns.
- Government has no plans to increase petrol ethanol blending beyond 20% yet.
- Isobutanol is currently not being blended with diesel.
- Oil companies received offers for 17.6 billion litres of ethanol for 2025-26.
- Government is exploring ethanol as a potential clean cooking fuel.
- Ethanol-based cooking solutions could help reduce LPG import dependence.
New Delhi, August 10: Ethanol-blended diesel has failed the required safety specifications because the addition of ethanol sharply reduces the fuel’s flash point, making wider adoption difficult unless the technical issue is resolved.
Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi informed Parliament that public-sector oil marketing companies had conducted scientific evaluations of ethanol blending with diesel through their research and development centres, in collaboration with accredited laboratories and automobile manufacturers.
The tests found that ethanol-blended diesel did not meet the required diesel flash-point specification, as the flash point fell sharply in the presence of ethanol.
The development comes as India continues to expand the use of ethanol as a transport fuel and explore additional uses for rising domestic ethanol production. The government has primarily focused its ethanol blending programme on petrol, with a target of achieving 20% blending.
Gopi said no decision has been taken to increase ethanol blending in petrol beyond 20%. Any further increase will be considered only after detailed scientific and technical studies and consultations with automobile manufacturers, oil marketing companies and research institutions.
The minister also clarified that isobutanol is currently not being blended with diesel.
Meanwhile, demand for ethanol remains strong. State-run oil marketing companies floated their first tender in September 2025 to procure around 10.5 billion litres of ethanol for the 2025-26 ethanol supply year. They received offers for nearly 17.6 billion litres, around 68% more than the quantity sought, and subsequently allocated 10.485 billion litres to 378 registered suppliers.
The government is also examining ethanol as a potential cooking fuel. According to Gopi, ethanol-based cooking solutions could reduce India’s dependence on imported LPG while providing a cleaner alternative to conventional fossil-fuel-based cooking.
The LPG Equipment Research Centre, a joint venture of Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation, along with public-sector oil marketing companies, is working on developing ethanol-based clean cooking alternatives.
The government has also introduced measures to support domestic ethanol production, including interest-subvention schemes, assistance to cooperative sugar mills for converting existing sugarcane-based distilleries into multi-feedstock plants, and long-term offtake agreements between oil marketing companies and dedicated ethanol producers.
