Nitin Gadkari calls bio-ethanol as fuel of the future amid growing concerns
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New Delhi: Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari called bio-ethanol as the fuel of the future pointing at the government’s plan to go ahead with blending petrol with ethanol.
Nitin Gadkari was addressing on Monday a summit on green and renewable energy organised by NDTV, when he said ‘Pollution has reduced post ethanol use... the aim is to curb the carbon footprint and reduce our use of fossil fuel’.
The statement comes amid what the report said a growing discontent against the Centre’s move for E20 fuel, which will come with blending ‘all petrol sold in the country with 20 per cent ethanol by 2025/26’.
With the E20 plan, the government as part of its ethanol-blended petroleum is looking forward to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions.
Gadkari pointed out that only China and the US are ahead of India in terms of vehicle population.
Blending of ethanol rose from 12.06 per cent in 2022/23 to 14.6 per cent following year with further rising to 19.6 per cent February this year.
However, car owners are not happy with the innovation with many expressing concern over blended fuel impacting older models as their engines are not tuned for the fuel.
Many took to social media platforms expressing their concern with one user on X saying that ‘If anything happens to my vehicle due to ethanol-blended (adulterated) petrol, I will not hesitate to drag every single official in the Petroleum Ministry to court. We have every legal and constitutional right to do so.’
In an attempt to placate fears, Petroleum Ministry said last week that such concerns are ‘largely unfounded’ adding ‘The narrative - that ethanol blending in petrol is harming vehicles or causing undue hardship to consumers lacks a technical foundation’.
