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Govt achieves 12% ethanol blending target for ESY 2022–23: Oil Minister
India has achieved the target of blending 12 per cent ethanol with petrol during the current ethanol supply year, which concludes in October 2023, Oil Minister HS Puri said on Thursday
In ESY 2022–23 (December 2022–October 2023), the government had set a target of achieving 12 per cent ethanol blending with petrol. The target for next year—ESY 2023–24 (November 2023–October 2024)—is 15 per cent.
“(Oil) Secretary Pankaj Jain told me that we have already done 12 per cent this month, which was our target, and we are well towards reaching our target of 20 per cent biofuel blending by the calendar year 2025,” Puri said while launching reference fuels produced by State-run refining and marketing behemoth Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
Several advancements, such as the expedited implementation of fuel blending, moving the ambitious target of achieving 20 per cent blending from 2030 to 2025, and the sale of E20 blended fuel at over 5,000 petrol retail outlets, are a significant step in reducing emissions, he added.
The Minister noted that, apart from interest in producing ethanol from sugar-based producers, the maize industry is equally keen. “I think the rate of use of maize is so high that it is impressive. Today, meeting blending targets for biofuels is not an anxiety point. By the end of the 2025 calendar year, 20 per cent blending will be easily done,” he noted.
Ethanol blending
The percentage of ethanol blended with petrol by the oil marketing companies (OMCs) had declined to 11.72 per cent in August this year from 11.77 per cent in July on account of a lack of availability of feedstock such as rice.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) attributed the decline in blending to the discontinuation of Food Corporation of India (FCI) rice from July 2023.
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