Goverment to come up with norms for 27% ethanol blending in petrol by August end: Nitin Gadkari
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the government will come up with norms for 27 per cent ethanol blending in petrol by the end of August. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the higher 20 per cent ethanol-blended petrol in 2023. Gadari said ‘India has already achieved its target of 20 per cent ethanol blending. In Brazil, the ethanol blend in gasoline is 27 per cent.’ Currently, automobile engines can run on E20 with minor modifications in engines for corrosion, etc.
He stated ‘Presently, India does not have standard norms for the E27 fuel…the norms for E27 will be finalised before August end. India is 85 per cent dependent on imports for meeting its oil needs. Moreover, he stated 11 automobile companies have manufactured vehicles which run on flex-fuel engines.
Besides, He said India is food surplus and there is a need to protect the interests of farmers. Use of ethanol, extracted from sugarcane as well as broken rice and other agri produce, will help India - the world’s third largest oil consumer - bring down its reliance on overseas shipments. The target of achieving an average 10 per cent blending was achieved in June 2022, much ahead of the target date of November 2022.
