India drafts Central Motor Vehicles Amendment Rules 2026 for green fuels

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways published the draft Central Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Rules, 2026 in the Gazette of India on April 27, 2026, codifying E100 ethanol and B100 biodiesel fuel standards. The amendments give Indian flex-fuel and bio-diesel engine manufacturers the legal certainty to scale production aligned with national energy-security and decarbonisation goals.

Published in the Gazette of India on April 27, 2026, the draft Central Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Rules, 2026 amends the principal 1989 rules under powers conferred by the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways invited public objections within a thirty-day window. Key changes to Rule 115 raise the gross-weight threshold from 3000 to 3500 units, correct the HCNG definition from "(Hydrogen+CN)" to "(Hydrogen+CNG)", add E20 gasoline headings, expand alcohol categories to E100 and E85, and upgrade biodiesel from B10 to B100.

The amendments affect vehicle manufacturers, particularly makers of flex-fuel, ethanol and bio-diesel engines, along with medium and heavy-duty transport operators. The increased gross-weight threshold expands compliance scope for medium-sized transport vehicles. Heavy-duty engine producers face an updated World Harmonized Not-To-Exceed (WNTE) value, raised from 60 to 600, plus revised superscript and subscript definitions for Non-Methane Hydrocarbons (NMHC) and Methane (CH4) in emission testing tables. Alternative-fuel infrastructure investors gain a clearer codified basis for scaling E100 and B100 supply.

Stakeholders should review the draft and submit objections or suggestions within the thirty-day window before final publication. Manufacturers should assess readiness to produce 100% ethanol and B100-compatible vehicles and update emission-testing protocols to the revised NMHC, CH4 and WNTE specifications. Fuel-infrastructure developers should plan for the legal roadmap toward higher ethanol and biodiesel blends. Affected entities should monitor the Gazette for the final notification and align engine certification, vehicle-mass classifications and environmental testing with the corrected technical definitions once the rules take effect.

Key figure — Gazette publication date: April 27, 2026