New Delhi: Ethanol blending with petrol has touched 15.9 percent for the first time in June, according to official figures. State-run Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) blended 63.7 crore litres of ethanol with petrol in June to achieve an average blending of 15.9 percent. According to government data, as on July 1, 14,476 PSU outlets out of 81,963 total PSU retail outlets are dispensing E20 ethanol-blended MS. The government has set a target of achieving 20 percent ethanol blending by 2025.
The three state-run oil retailers — Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) — procured 60.9 crore litres of ethanol in June under the blending programme. In Ethanol Supply Year 2023-24 (November 2023-June 2024), OMCs have procured 401 crore litres of ethanol and blended 414.4 crore litres.
The average ethanol blending was 12.1 percent in ethanol supply year 2022-23, 10 percent in 2021-22 and 8.1 percent in 2020-21. The figure was 1.5 percent a decade earlier.
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