Petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday said by 2025, the entire country will have special fuel stations retailing E20 petrol, drawing confidence from the faster rollout of such fuel stations. E20 fuel is a blend of 20 per cent ethanol with petrol.

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The first E20 outlet was opened on February 8 this year -- ahead of the targeted April launch -- and as of now their number has crossed 600 and will cover the entire country by 2025, Puri told the AGM of the industry lobby IMC Chamber through a video message. He also said the ministry will be launching a global biofuel alliance later this month.

The minister said ethanol blending in petrol has gone up from 1.53 per cent in 2013-14, to over 11.5 per cent as of March 2023. In volume terms, ethanol blended petrol has increased from 38 crore litres in 2013-14 to 433.6 crore litres in 2021-22.

Similarly, he said the number of petrol pumps selling biofuels has increased three-fold from over 29,890 in 2016-17, to more than 67,640. The government aims to achieve a 20 per cent ethanol blending target by 2025, which has already crossed 11.5 per cent ahead of schedule.

In fact, the government has advanced the 20 per cent blending target by five years to 2025 from 2030. The 10 per cent ethanol blending in petrol target was achieved in June 2022, much ahead of its target, Puri said.

With the increasing sourcing of crude from Russia and other non-Gulf markets, Puri said the country has diversified the import basket from 27 countries in 2006-07 to 39 in 2023.

He said a growth-energy correlation is manifestly visible as the country stands now as the world's third largest energy consumer, third largest oil consumer, third largest LPG consumer, fourth largest LNG importer, fourth largest refiner, and the fourth largest automobile market in the world.

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