GEMA backs Maruti Suzuki E85 flex-fuel tech as India eyes higher ethanol blends

The Grain Ethanol Manufacturers Association on June 8 adopted Maruti Suzuki’s E85-compatible flex-fuel vehicle technology, putting India’s grain-based ethanol industry behind a fuel path that can run on blends of about 80% to 85% ethanol. The move comes as New Delhi pushes beyond E20 and tests whether vehicle certification, retail readiness and consumer uptake can keep pace with production capacity.

GEMA said the adoption is meant to show that India’s domestic market is prepared for higher ethanol blends and to speed commercial uptake of renewable fuels. Dr. C.K. Jain, GEMA’s president, welcomed the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways’ April 30 draft notification proposing to add E85 and E100 to the vehicle emission and certification framework, saying the draft was a strong policy signal that India is ready to move beyond E20 in a structured and regulated way.

The policy backdrop is already substantial. The government says ethanol blending rose from 1.53% in ESY 2013-14 to 14.60% in ESY 2023-24, with 707 crore litres blended in that year. Public-sector oil marketing companies supplied about 672 crore litres of ethanol to the market in ESY 2023-24, while officials have said about 1,016 crore litres would be needed to reach 20% blending in ESY 2025-26.

India has been building the regulatory and industrial base for years. The government says E20 compatibility was achieved from April 2023, with E20-tuned vehicles planned from April 2025. MoRTH had already notified mass emission standards for flex-fuel E85 and E100 vehicles in 2016, and later support for flex-fuel technology included incentives for BS6-compliant flex-fuel engine components.

The supply chain is also expanding. Public-sector oil marketing companies have signed long-term offtake agreements with 131 dedicated ethanol plants, which are expected to add 745 crore litres of annual design capacity. That gives producers more room to lift output, but it does not remove the adoption hurdle that has slowed higher-blend fuels elsewhere: the fleet has to be certified, pumps have to handle the fuel and motorists have to see a clear economic case.

E85’s technical promise is straightforward, but the market test is not. GEMA’s backing of Maruti Suzuki’s flex-fuel system signals that India’s grain ethanol sector wants a bigger role in the next phase of blending, yet the real measure will be how quickly E85 moves from policy support to vehicles on the road and fuel in the retail network.