New Delhi, Sept. 1 -- India is preparing to extend its biofuel push to the diesel-guzzling construction equipment sector, with plans to blend biofuels into diesel that powers heavy carriers, cranes, bulldozers, and other large machinery. Inter-ministerial consultations between the road transport and highways ministry and the heavy industries ministry have been started to operationalize the plan, according to two officials directly aware of the development. Construction equipment, which consumes 3-4% of the country's annual 91 million tonnes of diesel, could be the first to face mandatory biofuel blending before a nationwide rollout of 10% blended fuel. So far, India has been blending ethanol into petrol, with the country having already achieved 20% blending. The work on biofuel blending in diesel for construction equipment vehicles has started with a discussion between the two ministries," said one of the officials cited above, requesting anonymity. The initiative aims to help India trim its massive crude oil import bill, the official said. It also aligns with the country's twin goals of moving towards net-zero emissions and boosting farmer incomes through greater use of biofuels. India paid an import bill of $137 billion to ship in 234 million tonnes of crude oil in FY25. Email queries sent to both ministries on 28 August remained unanswered. Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari has maintained that the 4 billion litres of annual diesel usage by construction equipment vehicles can be an opportunity for biofuel blending to cut India's crude imports. Industry leaders are willing to accept biofuel blending as a method of reducing emissions and cutting fuel imports. Deepak Shetty, chief executive officer and managing director of JCB India told Mint the company welcomes this initiative....