E20 Achieved - India's Ethanol Programme

In 2025 India began putting petrol blended with 20% ethanol (E20) into pumps nationwide - hitting a mark it had first set for 2030 and later pulled forward to 2025. It is a dramatic turnaround for a programme stuck near 1.5% blending as recently as 2014. The Ethanol Blended Petrol scheme now trims crude-oil imports, routes money to farmers and distillers, and cuts tailpipe carbon. But it has also drawn fire over diverting food grains to fuel, whether older vehicles suffer, and whether E20 quietly dents mileage.