New Delhi: The petroleum industry has called on stakeholders to explore ethanol as a clean cooking fuel for households, aiming to reduce reliance on imported LPG and widen the scope of biofuel consumption in India. RS Ravi, Director (Downstream) at the Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry (FIPI), made the case at the All India Distillers' Association (AIDA) conference, pointing to ongoing efforts to develop ethanol-based cooking technologies.
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"A lot of work is happening" at agencies like the LPG Equipment Research Centre (LERC) and various IITs to develop ethanol-compatible and efficient cooking stoves, with prototypes likely to be ready soon, Ravi said.
Ravi emphasised that moving ethanol from bulk industrial use to household consumption would require a fundamental shift in how the fuel is supplied and distributed. "This is a different ballgame. As of now, the way you are supporting the oil industry is by supplying bulk… It needs to change," Ravi stated.
"How this supply chain is going to be developed, what form it needs to be delivered, the form factor is very critical." He urged the distillery industry to actively contribute ideas on making ethanol a viable cooking fuel option.
"Can AIDA come forward and give us ideas in terms of how we make this ethanol as a cooking fuel possible in India?"
The proposal comes on the back of India’s rollout of 20 percent ethanol blending in petrol (E20), a programme Ravi said was enabled by the distillery sector. He also referred to a recent government notification mandating the sale of E20 petrol with a minimum Research Octane Number (RON) of 95 from April 1, 2026, which is expected to improve vehicle performance and efficiency.
Beyond cooking fuel, Ravi called on the industry to step up efforts in other emerging areas, including scaling up isobutanol production for blending with diesel and advancing ethanol-to-sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) technologies.
However, he placed particular emphasis on the cooking fuel initiative, noting that research is already underway to position ethanol stoves as a cleaner alternative that could complement or partially replace LPG, especially in rural and semi-urban areas.
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Ravi said the shift would require new logistics models, suitable packaging or dispensing formats, and robust last-mile delivery systems. With India pushing ethanol blending to cut crude imports, save foreign exchange, lower emissions and support farmers, expanding its use into cooking could further strengthen energy security.
He called for closer collaboration between oil companies and distillers to make ethanol-based cooking solutions viable at scale.