India Begins Commercial E85 Rollout
India launched E85 fuel on June 5, 2026, marking a new stage in the expansion of the country’s ethanol market.
The initial rollout covers 48 retail fuel outlets operated by public-sector oil marketing companies and is intended specifically for flex-fuel vehicles designed to operate on higher ethanol concentrations.
E85 contains approximately 80 to 85 percent ethanol and 14 to 19 percent petrol and complies with India’s BIS 16634:2023 fuel standard.
Unlike the nationwide E20 petrol blend, E85 is not intended for conventional petrol vehicles. It is designed for flex-fuel vehicles capable of adjusting to significantly different ethanol concentrations.
High-Ethanol Fuel Is Priced Below E20
Price is one of the main features of the new fuel programme.
The government says E85 is being sold at nearly ₹20 per litre less than conventional E20 petrol, reflecting the greater share of domestically produced ethanol in the blend.
The rollout is occurring alongside the introduction of new flex-fuel vehicles into the Indian market.
In the days immediately before the E85 launch, Hero MotoCorp introduced flex-fuel motorcycles and Maruti Suzuki launched a flex-fuel version of its WagonR passenger car.
These vehicles are designed to operate on ethanol blends ranging from E20 toward much higher concentrations, creating a dedicated vehicle market alongside the fuel itself.
For ethanol producers, that matters because E85 can create incremental demand beyond the volumes required to maintain India’s standard E20 gasoline pool.
Retail Availability Is Planned to Expand Rapidly
The government intends to expand E85 availability beyond the initial 48 stations.
Current plans call for approximately 500 retail outlets to offer the fuel by December 2026 and around 5,000 outlets by December 2027.
That expansion would create a much larger commercial network for high-ethanol fuel, although its success will depend on the number of compatible flex-fuel vehicles entering the market and consumer uptake.
India has also built substantial ethanol-production capacity. Government figures indicate national capacity has reached nearly 20 billion litres, compared with roughly 11 billion litres required to sustain the E20 mandate.
Importantly, E85 should not be confused with a nationwide increase in India’s standard petrol blend above 20 percent.
The government clarified in July that no decision has been taken to raise the national base ethanol-blending requirement beyond E20. E85 remains a separate fuel intended only for specially designed flex-fuel vehicles.
For India’s biofuels sector, the programme therefore represents a second market alongside mandatory E20: a voluntary high-ethanol fuel system built around compatible vehicles and dedicated retail infrastructure.
Sources
Press Information Bureau, Government of India — E85 Rollout Commences Across 48 Retail Outlets of Public Sector OMCs, June 5, 2026
Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas — Retail Fuel Availability and Pricing Measures, June 2026
Press Information Bureau — Government Highlights Safety, Performance and National Benefits of Ethanol-Blended Petrol, July 23, 2026