Nitin Gadkari advocates for increased usage of blended fuel

Petrol and diesel price across India is in an incessant hiking rally. Besides the motorists, non-motorists too facing the impact of surging fuel prices. According to the union minister for road and transport Nitin Gadkari, increasing fuel prices are agitating people.

Gadkari has been known for advocating for use of greener fuels such as LNG, CNG and ethanol. He again emphasised that and said that using alternative fuels would give people some respite from the surging fuel price related problems.

Petrol price on Monday has been increased by 34 paise after a day of pause. Diesel price was decreased by 17 paise though. This was the eighth price hike for petrol in 12 days this month.

With the series of price hikes for motor fuels, petrol and diesel have been selling at ₹100 per litre in many places. Petrol has breached the century mark in 18 states and union territories.

Nitin Gadkari has been advocating for biofuel and flex-fuel engines for quite some time. The surging fuel prices are bringing that issue to the forefront again. According to the union minister, the government will soon announce a flex-fuel engine policy to encourage automobile manufacturers.

Flex-fuel is a mix of petrol and ethanol that comes with lower pollutants. This cleaner fuel is widely used in countries like Brazil and the US. Several automakers have already introduced flex-fuel engine vehicles in those countries. These engines are capable of running on more than one fuel and a mix of fuels as well.

The minister inaugurated India's first commercial liquified natural gas (LNG) filling station in Nagpur on Sunday. He said that using ethanol, methanol and bio-CNG would give the fossil fuel operators tough competition.

The petrol and diesel prices comprise several different components. These include excise duty, freight charges, VAT, dealer commission etc. The central and state government taxes contribute 60% to petrol retail price and 54% to diesel retail price.