Gadkari says he'll personally launch Toyota's 100% ethanol Innova Hycross this month — and names five more automakers going flex-fuel

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said on 2 November 2026 that he will personally launch Toyota's flex-fuel Innova Hycross — capable of running on fuel blended with up to 100% ethanol — before the end of this month, and named four more Indian carmakers he says are developing similar flex-fuel models.

What happened

Speaking at the ENRich 2026 energy conference organised by KPMG in New Delhi, Gadkari said: "In this month, I am going to launch the flex-fuel car Toyota Innova, which is on 100% bioethanol." He added that he has personally been driving a pilot variant of the Innova Hycross running entirely on bioethanol for roughly the past year and a half, and went on to name the wider industry push: "Now Tata, Mahindra, Toyota, Suzuki, Hyundai, all are going to launch their flex engine and ethanol car, where we will use ethanol in place of petrol."

This would make the flex-fuel Innova Hycross India's second flex-fuel passenger vehicle after Maruti Suzuki's WagonR Flex Fuel, which launched in June 2026 as the country's first production car engineered to run on anything from E20 up to E85 or E100. Toyota has not yet issued its own press release confirming a specific launch date, price or final ethanol-compatibility spec for the Innova Hycross; Gadkari's comments are the most specific public timeline given so far, and sit alongside a broader Innova Hycross facelift that Autocar India and other outlets have separately reported is expected around 25-26 November 2026, bringing styling and feature updates alongside the flex-fuel powertrain.

Gadkari used the platform to make the economic case for the push: he cited petrol at around ₹120 a litre against ethanol at roughly ₹75 a litre, arguing the effective fuel cost of running a flex-fuel car could work out to about ₹25 a litre once the mileage difference is accounted for, and separately noted India's annual fossil-fuel import bill at roughly ₹22 lakh crore as the broader reason behind the ethanol push. He also said he expects EV adoption in India to rise to 35-40% of the market next year, from an estimated 20-25% currently. The petroleum ministry has already rolled out E85 fuel at select Delhi pumps at around ₹82 a litre, following last month's amendment to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules formally recognising E100-compatible vehicles.

What it means for an Indian buyer

If you're not in the market for a new Innova Hycross this month, the more significant piece of this story is the list of five manufacturers Gadkari named. A flex-fuel Toyota and a flex-fuel Maruti Suzuki already exist or are imminent; Gadkari's comments are the first time a government minister has publicly stated that Tata Motors, Mahindra and Hyundai are also actively developing flex-fuel models, none of which has been confirmed with a model name, price or date by the companies themselves. Treat this as a credible signal of direction rather than a product you can book — a minister's remarks at a conference are not a substitute for an OEM press release, and none of these four manufacturers has issued one yet.

For anyone specifically waiting on the Innova Hycross flex-fuel facelift, the practical question is less about the ethanol capability and more about what else changes. Toyota's current Innova Hycross runs a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated petrol or a 2.0-litre strong-hybrid petrol, and reports suggest the facelift will carry over this hybrid system with modifications for higher ethanol tolerance rather than a wholesale powertrain change — so day-to-day running costs will depend heavily on local E85/E100 fuel availability, which remains limited to a handful of pumps, rather than on the car itself. Running ordinary E20 petrol, which is what nearly every pump in the country already sells, should remain entirely normal for a flex-fuel car; the point of the technology is added flexibility, not a requirement to seek out higher ethanol blends.

The Auto Grid angle

A facelifted Innova Hycross — whatever is under its bonnet — still means a brand-new MPV leaving a Toyota showroom with a factory finish that hasn't yet seen a single stone chip, door-ding or car-wash swirl. Whether it's the standard hybrid or the flex-fuel version Gadkari is set to launch, the week-one calculus for an owner doesn't change: a car this size, bought for years of family highway use, is worth protecting with PPF before the first long drive rather than after the first chip shows up on the bonnet or front bumper.

What's next

We'll track Toyota's own announcement for the Innova Hycross facelift's confirmed launch date and pricing, expected around 25-26 November, and will catalogue the model's flex-fuel variant with full specifications once Toyota publishes them. We're also watching for any specific model or timeline confirmation from Tata Motors, Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki or Hyundai on the flex-fuel vehicles Gadkari referenced.