Govt to make mandatory for OEMs to offer biofuel vehicles in six months: Gadkari

Union Road Transport and Highways minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said that the Indian government will make it compulsory for auto manufacturers to offer vehicles running 100 per cent on biofuels in the next six months. This move will encourage the use of alternate fuel among commuters that is cost-effective and less polluting as compared to pure fossil fuels.While consumers easily pay over ₹100 per litre for petrol, the cost for one litre of bioethanol would be around ₹65. Speaking at an event, Gadkari said, “We are committed to delivering vehicles with flex engine norms. Within six months, we will give orders for making flex engines (mandatory)." He added that state-run oil marketing firms have already been ordered to offer biofuels at the same outlets where they sell petrol and diesel.(Also read | India aims to set up ethanol pump network in 6 months: Gadkari)Another reason why bioethanol should be made available is because it can be produced easily as the country has a surplus production of crops like rice, maize, corn and sugar, from which bioethanol is made.Gadkari also mentioned that it is important to make a shift towards alternate fuel vehicles including electric and hydrogen vehicles. He added that in another one year, there will be many battery-powered vehicles on the Indian roads. He further said that in the next five years, he wants India to be the leading auto manufacturing hub in the world offering vehicles with all types of fuels. The government is also looking at making green hydrogen an important fuel alternative to petrol, diesel and electric vehicles.Earlier this month, the minister had urged automakers to focus on rolling out flex-fuel vehicles (FFV) within a year - ones that can run equally on both biofuels and fossil fuels. Gadkari has been advocating the use of alternate fuel options for vehicles for quite some time and has urged both OEMs and commuters to support the move.(with inputs from PTI)