Among a slew of measures to improve energy security in the country and decarbonise the road and highways sector, India is likely to bring a mandate on blending isobutanol with diesel as early as this year, and additionally the road ministry may bring a draft notification on truck-trailers soon, said V Umashankar, Secretary, Ministry of Roads Transport and Highways (MoRTH) at CII Multimodal Transportation and Logistics Summit on Friday at New Delhi.
“Blending of diesel has been looked into with great seriousness. Bharat Petroleum is already undertaking strategic research for iso-butanol blending with diesel. And the results are very encouraging. It is quite likely that the blending mandate will start coming in somewhere later this year. And diesel consumption is almost two times that of petrol consumption. So, the impact on blending in terms of diesel is concerned will have a far greater impact on our energy security than even petrol blending,” said Umashankar.
We are looking at bringing a draft notification on truck-trailer soon, added Secretary, MoRTH. Explaining the rationale for the same, he said, this will to a large extent take care of the concerns that pertain to building an ecosystem that needs battery-swapping, and battery charging for electric heavy duty commercial vehicles.
“If you have to look at battery swapping, then there will have to be several points which will have to be provided with this kind of an infrastructure for swapping to happen. If you look at battery charging, then it is going to take a good amount of time for the charging to happen. So, does the truck lie idle at that point in time? So, what we are looking at is what we call a tractor-trailer interchangeability. Where you don’t need to swap the battery, you swap the entire front part of the truck. So, we have detachable containers, so the trailer is detachable. And you can have that as the charging itself,” he said, adding that charging will take place at specific locations.
Speaking of the government’s experiments with hydrogen logistics, the Secretary indicated, “The results are very good. The key cost is comparable with respect to other forms of logistics travel. It’s not high. Only high-cost element there is the hydrogen re-fuelling stations. And presently in the pilot projects government support (is) being provided”.
He added that recently in Delhi, between Delhi and Faridabad and Delhi and Noida, hydrogen buses at the public transport level have also been introduced. “Because the hydrogen refuelling station has already been supported and set up under this scheme. On fuelling it travels 450 kms before it needs a refuel. So if you take Delhi-Mumbai as a corridor, then maybe three refuelling stations along the highway at the new expressway” the Secretary said, while responding to a question of Mr Ashwani Gupta, Chairman, CII National Committee on Ports and Shipping and Whole Time Director & CEO, Adani Ports and SEZ on the country’s plan on alternate fuels for commercial trucks.
Additionally, the secretary also shared that Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF), the barrier-less tolling system that eliminates the need for vehicle to stop or slow down at toll-plazas is likely to be introduced in the ‘forthcoming year’.
“This (MLFF) has already been introduced in two toll plazas and it’s working very successfully. And the third one is likely to go live in the next 8-10 days. We plan to expand this to all the toll plazas, four lanes plus toll plazas across the country within the forthcoming year. Along with that is an advanced traffic management system that we are going to put in place. We have got the first proposal for the Delhi NCR approved. And the issuance of the bids and the implementation of the project will start very shortly,” he added. To increase the average speed of vehicles that move on the roads and highways, MoRTH plans to focus on expressways and access-controlled highways so that slow moving and fast-moving traffic can be segregated.
The proposed diesel-isobutanol blending mandate comes at a time when India is aggressively pursuing multiple fuel diversification strategies to reduce dependence on imported crude oil and strengthen energy security. While the country has already achieved significant success with ethanol blending in petrol, policymakers have increasingly turned their attention to diesel, which accounts for nearly 40 per cent of India’s petroleum product consumption and is the dominant fuel for freight transportation. Industry experts believe that introducing biofuels such as isobutanol into the diesel ecosystem could help lower carbon emissions from commercial vehicles, create additional demand for agricultural and industrial feedstocks, and contribute to the country’s target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2070.
The logistics and freight transportation sector remains one of the most challenging segments to decarbonise because of the long distances covered by heavy-duty trucks and the high energy requirements involved. To address this, the government has adopted a technology-neutral approach, simultaneously supporting battery-electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel-cell technologies, biofuels, and LNG-based solutions. The National Green Hydrogen Mission and various pilot projects on hydrogen-powered trucks and buses are part of this broader strategy. Industry stakeholders have repeatedly pointed out that the success of electric heavy commercial vehicles will depend not only on vehicle technology but also on the creation of charging, battery-swapping and operational infrastructure that minimises downtime and improves fleet utilisation.
The government’s push for Multi-Lane Free Flow tolling is also part of a larger effort to modernise India’s highway network through digital technologies and intelligent transportation systems. According to official estimates, vehicles currently lose millions of productive hours annually due to congestion and delays at toll plazas, resulting in higher fuel consumption and logistics costs. By integrating barrier-less tolling with advanced traffic management systems, automated enforcement mechanisms and real-time monitoring, the Ministry aims to improve traffic flow, enhance road safety and increase average vehicle speeds on national highways. These initiatives complement the rapid expansion of access-controlled expressways being developed across the country, which are expected to significantly improve freight efficiency and reduce transit times between major economic centres.
