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Informist, Wednesday, Jun. 17, 2026

 

By Taniva Singha Roy

 

MUMBAI – Oil marketing companies are expected to soon issue a tender to procure about 1.5 billion litres of ethanol in the next round of bidding for the supply year 2025–26 (Nov-Oct), a sugar industry official told Informist. In the first round in September, OMCs had tendered for roughly 10.5 billion litres of ethanol and received total bids for 17.76 billion litres.

 

The next round of ethanol procurement tender for this year is expected immediately after the final hearing in the legal dispute between oil marketing companies and Vinp Distilleries and Sugars Pvt Ltd. The final hearing is expected when the Supreme Court resumes work in mid-July after its annual summer vacation, Informist had earlier quoted a senior government official as saying.

 

"Public sector oil companies require 11 billion litres of ethanol for the 2025-26 ethanol supply year, based on the estimate of motor fuel demand," G.K. Sood, chairman of KN Agri Resources Ltd., a Mumbai-based agricultural trading and processing firm, said. OMCs issue tenders to procure ethanol from distilleries to support the national Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme. This initiative aims to blend ethanol with petrol to meet the nationwide 20% blending target to reduce dependence on crude oil imports.

 

For the current year, distilleries expect ethanol demand to be limited to meeting just E20 requirements. Even as the government has launched E85 fuel flex-fuel vehicles compatible with it, ethanol manufacturers do not expect biofuel demand to increase in the ongoing ethanol year. The increase in ethanol production required to support E85 will be gradual. "You cannot expect an overnight rise in ethanol production capacity or utilisation due to the adoption of flex-fuel vehicles. Over time, though, it will happen," Indian Sugar and Bio-energy Manufacturers' Association Director General Deepak Ballani had told Informist in an interview.

 

The push for higher ethanol blending comes amid the rise in crude oil prices due to the war in West Asia, which has increased India's import bill and put pressure on foreign exchange reserves. However, the market remains uncertain about the pace at which consumers will shift to flex-fuel vehicles, which are costlier than others and less fuel-efficient. Blended fuels have lower calorific values than pure petrol.  End

 

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

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