Govt plans 5% ethanol blending in petrol

The government is mulling a plan to blend 5 per cent ethanol in diesel. It is about to achieve the target of blending 20 per cent ethanol in petrol in the next two years.

The Prime Minister’s Office last week held a meeting on the new proposal with all ministries concerned, a news report in The Times of India said. “In June, ethanol blending with petrol touched 15.9 per cent.”

The report quoted an official as saying, “Though ethanol blending in diesel will mean that we have to produce more of this green fuel, it will be good for the environment and cut our crude oil imports and save foreign exchange.”

The Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) did a trial run on BS-III and BS-VI buses in 2018-19. It was done to study the performance of vehicles as well as emissions and durability. The test was reportedly conducted for 500 hours and no major failure was recorded. In fact, in the pilot project, fuel consumption was found to be slightly lower than normal diesel.

But BS-VI vehicles are yet to be tested with ethanol-blended diesel. A public sector oil company is expected to carry out a trial on a heavy-duty vehicle for assessment.

Answering a question in Parliament, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri recently said blending of ethanol with diesel was at an experimental stage with initial tests showing the formation of deposits in fuel tanks and other implications.

Earlier, Cooperation Minister Amit Shah had urged sugar cooperatives to ensure all mills produce ethanol and set up biofuel plants, highlighting potential economic and environmental benefits.