Ethanol blending: India's Rs 50,000 cr bet to cut dependence on foreign oil

India is set to spend almost $7 billion to boost ethanol production as it prepares to roll out a greener mix of gasoline that may cut its dependence on foreign oil.

About 10 billion liters of ethanol will be required each year to meet the 20% ethanol-blended fuel standard by 2025, India’s Oil Secretary Tarun Kapoor said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Friday.

That’s triple the amount of ethanol that’ll go into the mix as compared to the year ending November 2021, when ethanol constitutes 9% of blended gasoline, he said. The move will require about Rs 50,000