The Central government plans to achieve 12 per cent ethanol blending with petrol in 2022-23.

Top officials from the food and public distribution as well as petroleum ministries held a meeting on Monday to review the progress of the target.

Secretaries from both the ministries and oil marketing companies and chairman of Food Corporation of India (FCI) were also present in the meeting.

Ethanol industry showed confidence to supply sufficient ethanol to meet the targets, sources said.

Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, or alcohol) is a biofuel. It is naturally made by the fermentation of sugar.

In India, it is largely derived while extracting sugar from sugarcane. However, other organic matter like food grains can also be used for its production.

The government has launched the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme to mix this biofuel with petrol to reduce the consumption of fossil fuel.