Petroleum Minister at the e85 Fuel Launch
Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri speaking at the launch of E85 Fuel in New Delhi on 5 June, 2026. Senior officials of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and CMDs of public sector OMCs were also present during the event.
E85 is a high-ethanol blended fuel comprising 80–85 per cent ethanol and 14–19 per cent petrol, specifically designed for use in flex-fuel vehicles. The initiative aims to facilitate the adoption of Flex-Fuel Vehicles (FFVs), which are capable of operating on ethanol blends from E20 to E100 without restricting consumers to a single blend.
Flex-fuel vehicles remain highly competitive with EVs due to their lower acquisition costs and ability to leverage existing fuel infrastructure. While EV technologies rely significantly on imported batteries and critical minerals, E85-powered vehicles run on domestically produced ethanol.
The rollout commences across 48 Public Sector OMC’s retail outlets (ROs) in the country, enabling flex-fuel vehicle users to access this cleaner fuel. The same would be scaled up to 500 ROs by December 2026 and about 5000 ROs by December 2027 and help raise India’s aggregate ethanol blending levels to nearly 26 per cent by 2030-31.
