New Delhi, June 4 -- India's oil marketing companies will begin rolling out E85 fuel-an 80-85% ethanol-blended variant of petrol-on Friday, marking a new phase in the push towards flex-fuel mobility.

Indian Oil Corp. Ltd. said the first phase of the E85 rollout will cover about 50 retail outlets across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur. "Indian Oil, along with other oil marketing companies, is set to launch E85, an ethanol-blended petrol developed for use in flex fuel vehicles (FFVs), on the occasion of World Environment Day," the oil retailer said in a statement on Thursday.

Mint earlier reported that the Centre is preparing a broader policy push to enable adoption of flex-fuel vehicles that can run on ethanol blends of up to E85 petr...