E85 has arrived in Mumbai at Rs 91.18 a litre

Key Highlights

• E85 fuel is now officially available in Mumbai at Rs 91.18 per litre, Rs 20.03 cheaper than regular E20 petrol, which costs Rs 111.21 per litre in the city.
• Mumbai’s E85 price is Rs 9.06 more expensive than Delhi’s Rs 82.12 per litre, where the fuel was first introduced in early June 2026.
• Real-world testing shows a 24.40 percent drop in fuel efficiency compared to E20.

Mumbai now has E85 at the pump. At Rs 91.18 per litre, it undercuts regular petrol by just over Rs 20. On paper, that sounds like a meaningful saving. In practice, almost nobody in Mumbai can actually use it.

E85 is a fuel blend containing 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent petrol. It requires a flex-fuel engine, built with different fuel system components and ECU calibration to handle that much ethanol safely. A regular E20-compatible car cannot run on it.

Delhi vs Mumbai Pricing

Delhi got E85 first, in early June 2026, priced at Rs 82.12 per litre. Mumbai’s price of Rs 91.18 is Rs 9.06 higher, which reflects the usual difference in state taxes and transportation costs between the two cities.

The Catch: Fuel Efficiency

A Rs 20 saving per litre sounds attractive until you account for fuel efficiency. Ethanol has a lower energy density than petrol, which means you burn more fuel to cover the same distance.

Who Can Even Use It

Right now, very few vehicles in India are E85-compatible. The Maruti Wagon R Bioflex is currently restricted to commercial buyers. The Hero Splendor+ and HF Deluxe flex-fuel motorcycles are the only options available to private buyers.

The government’s broader ambition is large. Around 50 to 100 E85 stations are planned along the Delhi-NCR and Mumbai-Pune-Nagpur corridor by end-2026, scaling up to 5,000 stations nationwide by end-2027. For now, E85 at your local pump is mostly a preview of where India is headed, not something most drivers can actually benefit from today.

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