Govt paving way for entry of E-20 vehicles in 5 years
Sources said to push the move towards production, the government has also set up a committee of three Union ministers comprising Nitin Gadkari, Dharmendra Pradhan and Piyush Goyal
NEW DELHI : The government is aiming to ensure E-20 vehicles running on fuel blended with 20% ethanol enter the market by 2025, sources said.
Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba on Thursday took a review meeting with half a dozen ministries on the roadmap for ethanol fuelled vehicles in India, just a day after the government announced plans to accelerate ethanol production.
Sources said to push the move towards production, the government has also set up a committee of three Union ministers comprising Nitin Gadkari, Dharmendra Pradhan and Piyush Goyal.
Officials said while manufacturing of ethanol-fuelled vehicles is no more a challenge considering that many other countries have them, getting enough ethanol remains the key issue.
“So, all the agencies concerned have been asked to work in coordination to ensure that E-20 vehicles hit Indian market in the next five years. This is possible in states such as Maharashtra, Karnataka and even in Uttar Pradesh, which have significant share of the total ethanol production,” said a source.
Meanwhile, the road transport ministry has issued draft automotive industry standard (AIS) norms for vehicles that can run on fuel with 20%, 85%, 95% blending of ethanol and the ones running on 100% pure ethanol. All these vehicles will get distinct identification marks E20, E85, E95 and E100 as it is in the case of CNG and hydrogen-fuelled vehicles.
The maximum ethanol blending in petrol to be used in vehicles has not crossed 10% so far and the overall blending is around 5-6%. “In 7-8 states the blending of ethanol in petrol is up to 9%,” a sugar industry source said. Sources said going by the target set for 20% ethanol blending by 2030, India would require around 1,100 crore litres of ethanol annually. Only the sugar manufacturing industry won’t be able to meet that requirement.
Source : economictimes
