India advances 20% ethanol blending start date to 2023

London (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - India has accelerated plans to increase ethanol blending in its gasoline after issuing a directive Wednesday for up to 20 per cent (E20) blends to be allowed starting April 1, 2023.

The directive, published in its official gazette, brings forward the move from 2025 and will apply to the entire country.

India is in the top two largest global sugar producers and has long sought to use this huge capacity as a way to secure greater energy security and boost its farming sector by substituting domestically-produced ethanol from sugar for gasoline produced from largely imported crude oil.

Pollution is also a concern, with Indian cities taking up 11 of the top 15 spots for most traffic-polluted cities in the world in 2018, according to particulate data measured by the World Health Organisation.

Previous plans to increase ethanol blending have gone astray due to supply and infrastructure problems, with sugar production concentrated in certain states, as well as the high cost of ethanol in comparison to fossil fuel.

The country's oil companies have acted to increase access to ethanol from second-generation biorefineries, which use waste and residue feedstocks instead of sugar.

Indian Oil Corp announced in March that it plans to build two second-generation plants, to be operational by spring 2023, with capacities of around 145,000 mt per year as part of a government initiative to get 12 new biorefineries up and running.