Nitin Gadkari signs 100 per cent ethanol fuel rules; no more dependence on foriegn crude oil

NEW DELHI: The Union government took a crucial decision that will pave the way for new changes in the country's automotive and energy sectors. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has signed an order allowing the use of 100 per cent ethanol as a legal vehicle fuel.

Nitin Gadkari announced that the official documents have been signed, and with this, the legal path has been cleared for the commercial distribution of clean biofuel and setting standards across the country's transport network. The central government hopes that the move to allow ethanol, known commercially as 'E100', will reduce dependence on expensive foreign crude oil imports.

The government hopes that this move will encourage major automakers to accelerate domestic production of flexi-fuel vehicles (FFVs) and special engines that can run on fuels produced entirely from plants.

Moreover, this policy provides great financial security to India's large agricultural sector, especially sugarcane farmers and grain producers. This means that excess sugarcane, maize, and spoiled food grains can be diverted to bio-refineries to produce second-generation ethanol. This is expected to reduce the country's import bill by tens of billions of rupees.

With the legal hurdles cleared, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and public sector oil marketing companies are expected to start setting up E100 distribution centres in major cities and agricultural centres in a phased manner. However, experts point out that since pure ethanol has a high capacity to absorb moisture and is prone to corrosion, special arrangements will need to be made in storage tanks and underground pipelines.