Over the last 30 years, the automotive industry has made a concerted push to decarbonize. In the EU, this effort has centered largely on investment in battery electric vehicles and hybrids. However, this isn’t the only route forward. There are many roads to net zero, and different countries are pursuing different strategies. One of those is India.
With its mix of dense urban centers and sprawling rural regions, India is a market with a very diverse set of mobility needs. While EVs are well-suited to Indian cities where charging infrastructure is available, many Indians need mobility solutions that can allow them to travel deep into the country’s rural areas. To this end, bioethanol in India is increasingly becoming the combustion fuel of choice alongside hybrid vehicles.
August 2025 marked a major milestone in India’s latest biofuel drive: the nationwide transition to Indian E20 fuels, a 80% gasoline and 20% bioethanol mix. This follows the earlier launch in 2024 of all-bioethanol E100 fuels in some Indian cities.
A major reason for why bioethanol in India is being embraced comes down to simple geography and climate. India’s location is near the equator, paired with significant gains in farm productivity in recent decades, means that it now produces a sizeable agricultural surplus. Along with India having the land and climate to support large-scale cultivation of crops ripe for conversion into bioethanol, it is also warm enough to avoid one of the major pitfalls facing bioethanol at higher latitudes – their vulnerability to freezing.
Biofuels, such as bioethanol, originate from many common crops
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Rather than export these flex fuel crops, the Indian government is using them to reduce the nation’s transport emissions and also bring down India’s fuel import burden, improving the country’s energy security. Better yet bioethanol can be used in many existing vehicles and is distributed through the current fuel‑station network –this means that unlike EV charging infrastructure, which requires substantial upfront investment, bioethanol can be adopted relatively quickly.
However, as with any transition, there will be challenges. Many older engines that are used across the Indian vehicle parc weren’t designed with the use of ethanol blends in mind and so burn blends like E20 far less efficiently than they should. Helping markets like India adopt modern, efficient engines that make effective use of modern biofuel blends is a great example of how combustion and hybrid innovation – like that done by Horse Powertrain – will play a major role in the world’s journey to net zero.
Horse Powertrain produces a variety of engines that can run on biofuel blends
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There is no perfect, one‑size‑fits‑all solution to global mobility. Instead, there’s a range of best-fit regional solutions that reflect their economic and geographic reality. India’s bioethanol journey is a great case in point of this reality in action – a regional solution to deliver the best results for people and planet.
From February 5th to 7th, Horse Powertrain will be attending ACMA Automechanika New Delhi 2026, showcasing innovations from across our product line of powertrains, engines, transmissions and range extenders. Attendees are welcome to visit our booth to connect with us.
On Friday, February 6th 12:00h IST, Horse Powertrain's Strategy & RAE Director Guillaume Tuffier will be taking part in a panel discussion - "Engineering the future: advanced technologies enabling growth, reliability and innovation for Indian aftermarket 2.0."
Later on Friday, Horse Technologies' Chief Sales & Business Development Officer Caroline Mechai will be giving a presentation at 13:30h IST - "Why Horse Powertrain is a strategic partner for the transformation of the Indian automotive industry."
To find out more about Horse Powertrain at ACMA, click here.