India’s push towards energy self-reliance is now poised for a global leap, with Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari declaring that the country must prepare to export surplus ethanol to world markets.
“It is the time for India’s futuristic development. We need to reduce our imports and increase our exports. As far as the surplus of ethanol, it is now the requirement of the country that we need to export ethanol,” Gadkari said on Wednesday at the 2nd International Conference and Exhibition on Bioenergy and Technologies in New Delhi.
India has already achieved 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol ahead of the 2025–26 target under the government’s Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme. With production capacity touching nearly 1,822 crore litres annually as of June 2025, the minister said the nation is no longer simply meeting domestic energy needs but stands ready to become a global supplier.
Citing Brazil’s pioneering role in ethanol, Gadkari said India, too, was emerging as a major player in the biofuel revolution. “Farmers now earn Rs 45,000 crore more annually because of ethanol policies. Diversifying agriculture towards energy is the need of the hour,” he noted, adding that India’s leadership in ethanol would carry political, economic and environmental significance in the global sphere.
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Gadkari stressed that ethanol and other biofuels are no longer niche technologies but a core part of India’s strategy to combat climate change and reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports worth Rs 22 lakh crore every year. “Nearly 40 per cent of air pollution in India is caused by transport fuels. It is time for the world and India to embrace alternatives like ethanol, bio-CNG, and sustainable aviation fuel,” he said.
The minister highlighted that rice straw, once burned by farmers, would soon become an energy resource, with 500 plants under development to convert it into ethanol and bio-CNG. This, he said, would address not only stubble burning but also Delhi’s pollution crisis.
India’s advances extend into innovation, from ethanol-powered generators and bio-bitumen roads to flex-fuel vehicles, with automakers such as Toyota, Tata, Mahindra, Suzuki and Hyundai already developing models compatible with alternative fuels. Tractor and equipment makers, too, are shifting towards biofuels and hydrogen.
Calling biofuels both “an environmental necessity and an economic revolution,” Gadkari said the transition to green energy would cut pollution, boost farmer incomes, and strengthen India’s standing as a self-reliant nation. “This is about reducing pollution, creating jobs, strengthening agriculture, and ensuring Atmanirbhar Bharat. The sky is the limit for India's biofuel future,” he said.
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