India is on track to introduce a formal mandate for blending isobutanol with diesel before the end of 2025, Roads Transport and Highways Secretary V. Umashankar said on Friday, 29 May. Speaking at the CII Multimodal Transportation and Logistics Summit in New Delhi, Umashankar said research by Bharat Petroleum on iso-butanol blending has yielded 'very encouraging' results, and a blending mandate could arrive 'somewhere later this year.'

Why Diesel Blending Matters More Than Petrol

Umashankar underscored the outsized significance of diesel in India's fuel mix. '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,' he said. India has already rolled out ethanol blending mandates for petrol in recent years, but diesel — which powers the bulk of commercial freight — has remained largely outside the biofuel blending framework. A successful isobutanol mandate would mark a structural shift in the country's decarbonisation strategy for road transport.

Electric Heavy-Duty Trucks: The Tractor-Trailer Model

Beyond biofuels, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is preparing a draft notification on a truck-trailer framework designed to support electric heavy-duty commercial vehicles. Rather than relying solely on battery swapping or lengthy charging stops — both of which risk keeping trucks idle — the Ministry is exploring what Umashankar called 'tractor-trailer interchangeability.' Under this model, the entire front section of the truck is swapped rather than just the battery, allowing trailers to remain in service while the traction unit is recharged or exchanged. 'We have detachable containers, so the trailer is detachable,' he explained.

Hydrogen Logistics Pilots Show Promise

On hydrogen as a logistics fuel, Umashankar reported that pilot results have been 'very good,' with key costs described as 'comparable with respect to other forms of logistics travel.' The primary cost bottleneck, he noted, is hydrogen refuelling infrastructure. Government support is currently underwriting pilot refuelling stations. Hydrogen buses have already been introduced on public transport corridors between Delhi and Faridabad, and between Delhi and Noida. Each bus can travel 450 km before requiring a refuel — a range Umashankar suggested could make the Delhi-Mumbai expressway corridor viable with as few as three refuelling stations.

Barrier-Less Tolling to Roll Out Nationwide

The Secretary also confirmed that Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) — a barrier-less tolling system that allows vehicles to pass toll plazas without stopping — is set for nationwide expansion within the 'forthcoming year.' MLFF is currently live at two toll plazas, with a third expected to go live within the next 8–10 days. The Ministry plans to extend the system to all four-lane-plus toll plazas across the country. Alongside MLFF, an advanced traffic management system is being rolled out, with the first proposal for the Delhi NCR region already approved and bids set to be issued shortly.

Segregating Traffic to Boost Average Speeds

To improve vehicle throughput on national highways, the Ministry intends to prioritise expressways and access-controlled highways where slow-moving and fast-moving traffic can be physically separated. The initiative is part of a broader push to raise average vehicle speeds, which remain well below the designed capacity of many high-speed corridors. Together, these announcements signal that India's road transport ministry is simultaneously pursuing near-term fuel diversification and longer-term infrastructure modernisation to meet its decarbonisation and logistics efficiency targets.