After months of being a strong supporter of blending ethanol with petrol, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said he had “signed the dossier” to finalize regulations for use of 100 per cent ethanol in vehicles.
Speaking at a rally in Nagpur, Maharashtra, Gadkari said “people were laughing” when he talked about this, but now ethanol could become a “viable alternative to petrol”.
“Last night at 8 pm I signed the file and finalized the regulations to legally allow the use of 100% ethanol,” Gadkari said, according to a video published by news agency ANI. He added: “People used to laugh when I talked about this dream, and some friends even criticized it.”
The draft changes to the Central Motor Vehicle Rules 1989 aim to provide wider use of fuels, such as E85 (a blend of 85 per cent ethanol with petrol) and E100 (which will allow vehicles to run on almost pure ethanol), as well as B100 blends of biodiesel, hydrogen and compressed natural gas.
Gadkari said that, in collaboration with Hardeep Puri, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, they have now launched “100% WagonR – Maruti Suzuki’s best-selling car”.
Last week, Puri and Gadkari attended the launch of Hero MotoCorp’s flex-fuel variants of the Splendor+ and HF Deluxe, which come with E85-compatible engines.
“Companies launch ethanol-compatible vehicles”
Gadkari also said that automobile companies will launch ethanol compatible vehicles in the next month and a half. “On motorcycles, Hero MotoCorp – which accounts for three out of every five motorcycles sold – has launched two flex-fuel models capable of running on 100% ethanol. Following this, companies like Toyota, Suzuki, MG and Hyundai will launch 100% ethanol compatible vehicles within the next month and a half,” he said.
Gadkari added that a pilot project will be unveiled in Nagpur soon, comprising a hydrogen pump and two hydrogen-powered buses. Gadkari said: “The public will be able to ride these hydrogen buses, which will operate with green hydrogen extracted from water using an electrolyzer,” stressing that “the day is now near.”
Gadkari and Puri call for increasing the ethanol blend in petrol
During the MotoCorp launch event last week, both union ministers Gadkari and Puri called for use of higher blend of ethanol in petrol. E85 gasoline, which will contain 85% ethanol mixed with 15% gasoline, will be much cheaper than current E20 gasoline, Puri said.
He said the government is actively considering a supportive policy for rapid and affordable adoption of E85 fuel. The minister also said that even if 1% E85 is approved in the supply year 2026-27, four lakh crore liters of ethanol demand will be generated. Gadkari, during the same event, said he raised the issue of higher GST, 18% in this case, on fuel with more than 20% ethanol blend in petrol.
“The Finance Minister assured me that she will discuss the issue of increasing taxes on E30 and above with the state governments in the GST Council meeting,” Gadkari said. The current GST rate on E20 fuel is 5%.
This comes at a time when the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, headed by Gadkari, has proposed amendments to vehicle emission rules to expand the scope of higher ethanol blends and alternative fuels. However, some have raised doubts about their effect on vehicles, their engines and their performance.
However, Gadkari dismissed concerns that ethanol is an inferior fuel, and defended its engineering standards, saying its performance characteristics were on par with conventional fuels.
