India's First E85 Fuel Station Opens In Delhi — Price, Availability, And Compatible Vehicles

Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri inaugurated India's first E85 fuel dispensing station at Indian Oil's Pusa Road outlet in New Delhi on World Environment Day. The high-ethanol blend has been priced at Rs 82.12 per litre in Delhi, exactly Rs 20 lower than regular E20 petrol.

The launch marks the beginning of a phased nationwide rollout of E85 with dispensers for the high-ethanol blend carrying distinct branding to separate them from standard E20 pumps. In the first phase, E85 is now available at 48 retail outlets operated by public sector oil marketing companies across the country.

The government plans to scale this to 500 outlets by December 2026, with an ambitious target of 5,000 operational E85 dispensing stations across major Indian cities by end-2027.

E85 Price Vs E20 Price

With E20 petrol currently at Rs 102.12 per litre and premium XP95 at Rs 109.24 per litre in Delhi, E85 enters at a Rs 20 discount compared to the regular E20 blend and Rs 27.12 discount compared to the premium blend.

However, the savings in fuel cost do not fully offset the efficiency penalty. Flex-fuel vehicles running on E85 can be expected to return roughly 25-35 percent lower mileage than an equivalent E20 vehicle, owing to ethanol's lower energy density compared to petrol.

Image Source: @HardeepSPuri on X

The pricing differential is also narrower than in established flex-fuel markets. In Brazil, where flex-fuel adoption is widespread, the price gap between E100 and the base E27 blend is approximately 36 percent. India's current delta works out to just under 20 percent, which means real-world running cost savings for Indian buyers of E85 fuel will be limited in the near term.

Flex-Fuel Vehicles In India

As of the publishing of this article the number of E85 compatible flex fuel vehicles on sale in India is quite low. On the two-wheeler side, Hero MotoCorp recently launched the Splendor+ Flex Fuel at Rs 82,710 and the HF Deluxe Flex Fuel at Rs 72,792, both ex-showroom Delhi.

Both motorcycles are powered by a 97.2cc engine with a revised ECU and upgraded fuel system, and are compatible with blends from E20 to E85. They go on sale in Delhi and select Maharashtra regions from July 2026. The Hero flex-fuel bikes command a premium of around Rs 6,000 over their standard counterparts.

However, they were not the first flex fuel motorcycles to go on sale in India. At the 2025 Bharat Mobility Global Expo, Suzuki had launched the Gixxer 250 SF Flex Fuel, which is capable of running on blends ranging from E20 to E85.

The Maruti Wagon R is currently the only flex-fuel car in production in India, though it is set to be available only to the commercial sector. Tata Motors has previously indicated its first flex-fuel passenger vehicle could be ready by end-2026, while Toyota has showcased flex-fuel prototypes of the Innova Hycross on multiple occasions.

India's Ethanol Blending Journey

India's ethanol blending in petrol has climbed from 1.53 percent in 2014 to 20 percent in 2025, achieving the E20 target five years ahead of schedule. The government now aims to push aggregate ethanol blending to nearly 26 percent by 2030-31, with the E85 rollout forming a key pillar of that strategy.

Reducing the nation's dependence on crude oil imports and shielding consumers from global energy price volatility (as seen currently thanks to the West Asia crisis), remain the government's central objectives behind the flex-fuel push.