India’s state refiners kick off ethanol blending program

India’s state-owned refiners including Indian Oil Corp. (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) kicked off India’s National Ethanol Blending Program in November. Ethanol will be blended into gasoline in 14 states in India including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Himchal Pradesh, New Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, while the union territories of Dadra, Nagar Havel, Daman and Diu will also be part of the program. Gasoline containing a 5% ethanol is due to enter the market following the acceptance by state refiners of 143 Letters of Intent from ethanol manufacturers, which have promised to supply 717.4 million liters of ethanol for fuel blending. (December 8, 2010)