Nitin Gadkari urges carmakers to focus on flex fuel, ethanol

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari wants carmakers in India to focus more on building vehicles that can run on ethanol and flex fuels. The minister, who has been actively advocating the need to shift to alternative fuel to cut costly import of crude oil, has urged Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) to find ways to make ethanol and flex fuel more acceptable to Indian consumers. Gadkari also said that ethanol blending in diesel could soon be a reality as the research has reached an advanced stage.

Gadkari held a meeting with SIAM officials on Tuesday at Transport Bhawan. They discussed on preparedness of the auto industry to develop vehicles that are capable of running on ethanol and flex fuel. Discussion was also held on possible models compatible with alternative fuel to be launched in coming days. Gadkari used the auto industry in Brazil as an example to show how it has successfully integrated flex fuel and biofuel into its transport system.

A few carmakers in India have already shown they are capable of building cars that are compatible with ethanol or flex fuel. In August last year, Toyota Motor launched the world's first electrified flex-fuel car based on the Innova HyCross MPV. Toyota says that the vehicle can run fully on flex-fuel ethanol and is compatible with BS 6 (Stage 2) norms. The engine of the Innova HyCross is tuned to run on E100 grade ethanol while the fuel tank and fuel pipe are also modified. The MPV is also equipped with a lithium-ion battery pack to generate power to help it run on EV mode.

After petrol, diesel too will have blended ethanol soon

Gadkari also said that blending of ethanol in diesel is also likely to be a reality soon. The minister said that the research on blending 15 per cent ethanol in diesel is at its advanced stages, and the government is considering how to prioritise it. India currently has ethanol blending in petrol only. The Centre aims to achieve 20 per cent blending of ethanol in petrol by next year.

Highlighting how the industry is gearing up to create an ecosystem for ethanol fuel, Gadkari said, "Indian Oil has decided to put 400 Ethanol pump stations. We are holding a meeting with stakeholders on this soon. We are meeting automakers as well, including Suzuki, Tata, and Toyota. These automakers have decided to launch flex-engine cars. Other vehicle-makers like TVS, Bajaj, and Honda are ready with ethanol bikes and are waiting for the ethanol pumps to come to launch their bikes." Gadkari also said that ethanol are on fast-track in four states including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The Centre's push for alternative fuel has been triggered by costly imports of crude oil which are processed into convetional fossil fuel like petrol and diesel. India currently imports ₹22 lakh crore worth of crude oil every year. Gadkari has said alternative fuel based on ethanol and other elements could help Indian financially while keeping price of fuel lower.

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