India should aim to achieve 100% ethanol blending: Nitin Gadkari

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said India should aspire to achieve 100 per cent ethanol blending in the near future, as vulnerabilities in oil exports amid the West Asia crisis have made it necessary for the country to become self-reliant in the energy sector.

Gadkari further said the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency III standards, which will be implemented from April 1 next year, will have little impact on electric and flex-fuel vehicles. “In the near future, India should aspire to achieve 100 per cent ethanol blending... Today, we are facing an energy crisis due to the war in West Asia, so it is necessary for us to become self-reliant in the energy sector,” he said, while addressing the Indian Federation of Green Energy’s Green Transport Conclave.

In 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched petrol blended with 20 per cent ethanol.

Currently, Indian vehicles can run on E20 petrol with minor changes to the engine to prevent corrosion and other issues. Countries like Brazil have 100 per cent ethanol blending.

Gadkari said India relies on imports to meet 87 per cent of its oil requirement. “We import fossil fuels worth Rs 22 lakh crore, which is also causing pollution... so we need to work on increasing production of alternative fuel and bio-fuel,” he said.

Noting that green hydrogen is the fuel of the future, Gadkari said there is a need to reduce the cost of running a hydrogen fuel station to make it financially viable.

“Transport of hydrogen fuel is a problem. Also, we need to produce 1 kg of hydrogen at $1 dollar, to make India an exporter of energy,” he said. The minister said that there is a need to produce hydrogen from waste.

He also pointed out that by focusing on the circular economy, India can create more employment opportunities. While observing that there is a need to discourage the use of petrol and diesel vehicles, Gadkari said, “But we can not force people to stop buying petrol and diesel vehicles.”

On growing concern on social media about E20, Gadkari said the petroleum sector is lobbying against this move. He asked automobile companies to focus on quality, not on cost, as it would help them penetrate new markets.