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NEW DELHI: Govt has tasked country’s premier vehicle testing agency ARAI to carry out a detailed study on the impact of E25 fuel (25% ethanol blended petrol) on different performance aspects, particularly mileage and engine condition, of existing vehicles. The move comes as the government accelerates its plan to increase blending in a bid to reduce crude imports.TOI has learnt that at a meeting of an inter-ministerial group last week, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) informed that adding 1% more ethanol to petrol beyond the current 20% won’t be an issue. “But considering that increasing the blending to 25% will be a significant jump, the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) will now conduct the study using vehicles that are E10 and E20 compliant,” said an official.People aware of the developments said that while there is surplus supply of ethanol, there is a need to assess the life and performance (mileage) of vehicles that are not designed for higher ethanol blending; their emission and upfront and recurring costs. As per best practices, the samples of vehicles should be run for 60,000-70,000 km for proper assessment.Following the push to increase ethanol blending, automobile companies started manufacturing E10 compliant vehicles from 2010 onwards. Production of vehicles that are compliant with E20 materials started from 2023, and from April 2025, all new vehicles are both E20 material and fuel compliant.Meanwhile, the petroleum ministry informed the inter-ministerial group that it has recommended the finance ministry to reduce GST on E85 or higher ethanol from current 15% to 5%, a move that will encourage vehicle manufacturers to produce them. The inter-ministerial group set up two years back to propose a roadmap for higher ethanol blending is likely to submit its report next week.Some of the automobile companies have lined up the launch of flex fuel cars and bikes next month that can run on higher ethanol-blended petrol and even 100% ethanol.
