Govt proposes adoption of 20% ethanol-blended gasoline as fuel & E20-compliant vehicles

• The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has published a draft notification GSR 757(E) dated 11th December 2020, seeking comments from the public for adoption of E20 fuel

• The notification also talks about the development of E20-compliant vehicles

New Delhi: The Centre has published a draft notification for introducing the adoption of E20 fuel, ie, blend of 20 percent of ethanol with gasoline, to promote green fuel and has sought comments from the public. "The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has published a draft notification GSR 757(E) dated 11th December 2020, seeking comments from the public for the adoption of E20 fuel, i.e, blend of 20% of ethanol with gasoline, as an automotive fuel and for the adoption of mass emission standards for this fuel," an official statement said on Friday.

The notification comes in the backdrop of Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari stressing on promoting ethanol blending to cut down India's crude oil import bill which stands at a whopping Rs 8 lakh crore. In an interview recently, Gadkari had said that the government wants to take the ethanol economy from the current Rs 22,000 crore to Rs 2 lakh crore.

Ethanol blending: Govt pitches for development of E20-compliant vehicles

The notification facilitates the development of E20-compliant vehicles. "It will also help in reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, etc. It will help reduce the oil import bill, thereby saving foreign exchange and boosting energy security," the statement said.

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The compatibility of the vehicle to the percentage of ethanol in the blend of ethanol and gasoline shall be defined by the vehicle manufacturer and the same shall be displayed on the vehicle by putting a clearly visible sticker, it added. 

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