If 1% of the annual petrol vehicle sales in the country during an ethanol year move to E85 (that is, 85% blending of ethanol with gasoline), the country would be able to save ₹195 crore in foreign exchange in an ethanol supply year, said Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, at the launch of Hero MotoCorp’s flex-fuel motorcycles.

In his address, the Union Petroleum Minister also mentioned that the E85 fuel would be “substantially cheaper than normal fuel [variant]”.

“If 1% of annual petrol vehicle sales in India during ethanol supply year 2026-27 shifts to E85, over four crore litres of ethanol demand would be generated, nearly ₹266 crore estimated payments would be made to distillers,” he stated, adding, “Around ₹195 crore in foreign exchange savings will be earned, reduction of approximately 0.28 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of crude oil imports, net CO2 reduction of nearly 0.86 LMT and nearly ₹160 crore flowing directly to farmers.”

Mr. Puri also mentioned that the government is “actively examining supportive policy framework to accelerate affordable adoption”.