New Delhi: With the West Asia crisis exposing vulnerabilities in the global oil export chain, the Union government will “very soon” issue draft rules on the roll-out of Ethanol 85 (E85), reported The Hindu, citing a senior government official. As per the official, the roll-out is expected in a couple of years.“Draft regulations will be notified very soon. There is consensus within the government. There is also market consensus and preliminary testing too has been carried out,” the official told the newspaper.The E85 blend of fuel is made of up to 85% ethanol and 15% petrol (gasoline). The official said that the E85 blend will be introduced as a separate fuel grade, different from E20. E20 presently allows ethanol blending up to 27%, under a notification issued in 2023.The official added that high levels of ethanol blending has several benefits, including “greater energy security for the country and a reduction in vehicular pollution, reported The Hindu.Such a high-ethanol fuel will also need engines to be compatible with it along with separate dispensing infrastructure at fuel pumps that will also dispense E20 petrol.Engines which are designed to run on E85 can also operate on lower ethanol blends, including E60 and E50. At present, from April 1, 2026, the government has mandated the sale of petrol with up to 20% ethanol across all States and Union Territories.Ethanol, which is renewable, domestically produced, and has cleaner burning than pure petrol, is made from sugarcane, maize, or grain.However, experts have pointed out that if India wants to allow higher ethanol blending with petrol by increasing E20 level, the country will have to ban sugar export.