All vehicles will soon be able to run on ethanol, says Nitin Gadkari

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has said that all vehicles will soon be able to run on ethanol and there will be more ethanol pumps in the country in future. While speaking at an event, the minister said that since petrol costs more than bio-ethanol, public will be able to save more along with reduction in air pollution.

Gadkari further said that all vehicles from auto rickshaws to high-end cars will be able to run on ethanol soon. The minister has time and again backed the country's need for increasing the scale of ethanol production and recently said that farmers need to turn to ethanol production instead of growing conventional crops to increase profitability as well as enhance supply.

He highlighted that the need for flex fuel engines in vehicles is primarily based on the fact that the country spends around ₹8 lakh crore each year on importing fuel, a figure that can come down if flex fuels are used rampantly. Thus, ethanol production has to be enhanced to achieve this goal.

Last week, the minister issued an advisory to carmakers to introduce flexible-fuel engines in vehicles within six months. The minister signed a file on flex-fuel engines that advise the car manufacturers to produce flex-fuel engines for their vehicles. He added that the central government is working to encourage the use of green and alternative fuels. He further mentioned that auto companies such as TVS Motors and Bajaj Auto have already started manufacturing flex-fuel engines for their two-wheelers and three-wheelers as well.

Flex-fuel or flexible fuel is an alternative fuel made combining petrol with methanol or ethanol. The flex-fuel is claimed as less pollutant compared to petrol because of its biofuel nature. The flex-fuel engines can run on both petrol and on biofuel as well.

(with inputs from agencies)