Flagging rise in fuel price, Nitin Gadkari asks auto manufacturers to expedite roll-out of flex-fuel variants – Times of India
NEW DELHI: Citing the spurt in crude prices due to the war in Ukraine — as a wake up call — Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday urged CEOs of major vehicle manufacturers and representatives of automobile lobby group SIAM to expedite the roll-out of vehicles of flex-fuel variants.
According to sources, Gadkari said it was high time to go for alternate fuel and reduce dependence on imported petrol and diesel to meet energy requirements.
The road transport sector is the biggest consumer of petrol and diesel.
“He said the war and spiralling prices of crude oil in the international market has forced us to look inward and find our own solution. The flex-fuel vehicles can play a key role in years to come,” said a source who attended the meeting.
The minister also asked the manufacturers to make a detailed presentation on the issues coming in the way of manufacturing engines that can run both on 100% petrol and petrol blended with 20-85% of ethanol (E20 to E85) in May.
Meanwhile, in the past two weeks, the government held two high-level inter-ministerial meetings including one chaired by the PM’s principal secretary P K Mishra on the ethanol blending programme.
Sources said Mishra has directed all the agencies concerned to ensure that by April 2025, the minimum 20% ethanol blending happens across the country.
The agencies can ensure higher blending percentage in states such as Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
As per the government’s vision, vehicle manufacturers will be asked to ensure that E20 material compliant and E10 engine tuned vehicles are rolled out all across the country from April 2023.
Similarly, they will be directed to ensure that vehicles with E20 tuned engines are rolled out from April 2025.
Meanwhile, the current average ethanol blending in India is around 8.3%. While in some states the blending is around 10% or little more, in states such as West Bengal and Assam it’s less than 4%.
According to sources, Gadkari said it was high time to go for alternate fuel and reduce dependence on imported petrol and diesel to meet energy requirements.
The road transport sector is the biggest consumer of petrol and diesel.
“He said the war and spiralling prices of crude oil in the international market has forced us to look inward and find our own solution. The flex-fuel vehicles can play a key role in years to come,” said a source who attended the meeting.
The minister also asked the manufacturers to make a detailed presentation on the issues coming in the way of manufacturing engines that can run both on 100% petrol and petrol blended with 20-85% of ethanol (E20 to E85) in May.
Meanwhile, in the past two weeks, the government held two high-level inter-ministerial meetings including one chaired by the PM’s principal secretary P K Mishra on the ethanol blending programme.
Sources said Mishra has directed all the agencies concerned to ensure that by April 2025, the minimum 20% ethanol blending happens across the country.
The agencies can ensure higher blending percentage in states such as Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
As per the government’s vision, vehicle manufacturers will be asked to ensure that E20 material compliant and E10 engine tuned vehicles are rolled out all across the country from April 2023.
Similarly, they will be directed to ensure that vehicles with E20 tuned engines are rolled out from April 2025.
Meanwhile, the current average ethanol blending in India is around 8.3%. While in some states the blending is around 10% or little more, in states such as West Bengal and Assam it’s less than 4%.
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