India to mandate blending of isobutanol and diesel this year to cut emissions

India may soon mandate the blending of isobutanol with diesel and issue new rules for truck trailers to boost energy security and reduce carbon emissions. At the CII summit on Friday, V Umashankar, secretary in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, said the mandate for combining is being taken very seriously and is expected to be rolled out later this year.

“Bharat Petroleum is already doing strategic research on isobutanol blending with diesel. And the results are very encouraging. It is quite likely that the blending mandate will start coming sometime later this year. And diesel consumption is almost double that of petrol. So diesel blending will have a much greater impact on our energy security than petrol blending,” Umashankar said.

The ministry has also commissioned the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) to explore flex-fuel engines that can run on up to 100% isobutanol as an alternative to diesel. This research will include vehicle tests to see how engines run on isobutanol-laced fuel.

Isobutanol is a biofuel produced from ethanol by fermentation. It has a higher energy density than ethanol and is less corrosive, properties that make it suitable for blending with diesel.

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Data from initial tests indicate that the addition of isobutanol substantially reduces pollution from diesel vehicles without changing their performance. The use of this biofuel may not require any major changes to the vehicle’s engine or exhaust system.

In August 2025, Mint reported on the government’s plan to blend isobutanol with diesel and develop flex-fuel engines that could use up to 100% isobutanol as fuel.

Umashankar noted that the ministry will soon issue a draft notification for truck trailers. The move is designed to support a new ecosystem for heavy-duty electric trucks, specifically addressing the infrastructure needed for battery swapping and charging, he said.

Umashankar explained that the ministry is exploring “tractor-trailer interchangeability” as a more efficient alternative to long charging times or complex battery exchange stations. Under this plan, instead of charging the vehicle or replacing the battery, the entire front end of the truck would be disconnected and replaced with a fully charged unit, allowing the trailer to remain operational while the power source is replaced at specific locations.

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Hydrogen powered buses

Of the government’s experiments with hydrogen logistics, the secretary said: “The results are very good. The key costs are comparable to other forms of logistics travel. They are not high. The only high-cost element is the hydrogen fueling stations. And there is currently government support in the pilot projects.”

He added that hydrogen-powered public buses were recently launched on routes connecting Delhi with Faridabad and Noida.

“Hydrogen refueling stations have already been set up under this scheme. These buses can travel 450 km before they need to refuel. So maybe three refueling stations will be needed for the Delhi-Mumbai corridor,” the secretary said when asked by Ashwani Gupta, CII’s National Committee on Ports and Shipping, Managing Director and CEO of Alternative Fuel Ports and Adani Ports Commercial Director for Truck SEZ countries.

The secretary also said that multi-lane free flow (MLFF), a barrier-free tolling system that eliminates the need for vehicles to stop or slow down at toll plazas, is likely to be introduced in the “coming year”.

“This (MLFF) has already been implemented at two toll plazas and is working very successfully. The third one is likely to be launched in the next 8-10 days. In the coming year, we plan to extend it to all multi-lane toll plazas across the country. We are also going to introduce an advanced traffic management system. We have the first proposal to implement the project in Delhi very soon and the bids of NCR in Delhi will be approved.

To increase the average speed of vehicles on roads and highways, the Ministry plans to focus on the separation of slow and fast moving traffic on expressways and controlled access highways.

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