15% Ethanol Blending In Diesel Research In Advanced Stages, Says Nitin Gadkari

The research around blending 15 per cent Ethanol in Diesel is in advanced stages, and the government is exploring the prospects around on how to prioritise it based on sound evidence, said Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, at 12th CII Bioenergy Summit 2024 "Fuelling the Future-Securing India's Green Growth Goals," on Monday in New Delhi.

Ethanol blending in India has surged from 1.53 per cent in 2014 to 15 per cent in 2024, according to government data. Spurred by this progress, the government has set an ambitious target of reaching 20 per cent blending in Petrol by 2025.

Progress on building an Ethanol ecosystem--where Ethanol pumps can complement ethanol production and launch of vehicles that can run on Ethanol are on fast-track in four states--Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra, indicated the minister.

Gadkari said, "Indian Oil has decided to put 400 Ethanol pump stations. We are holding a meeting with stakeholders on this soon. We are meeting automakers as well, including Suzuki, Tata, and Toyota. These automakers have decided to launch flex-engine cars. Other vehicle-makers like TVS, Bajaj, and Honda are ready with Ethanol bikes and are waiting for the Ethanol pumps to come to launch their bikes."

"They are waiting for ethanol pumps to launch their bikes. I am focusing on encouraging an increase in ethanol production in these four states where pumps have been announced--Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra," he added. He said the country has moved from the era of 'knowledge to wealth' to a 'waste to wealth'.

On CNG, the minister said, "Over 475 projects are in pipeline in CNG, and over 40 projects have already started across Punjab, Haryana, Western UP, and Karnataka, among others. Most of them have found viability due to the use of rice straw. The conversion ratio of rice straw to CNG at present is somewhere around 5 :1 (in tonnes)."

He added, "We need to study deeper which of the biomass can give us CNG more efficiently. We also need to explore further technologies of conversion of municipal solid waste into bio-CNG, where the cost of raw- materials becomes zero. A pilot project is underway in this area as well."

Urging the industry to focus research on the most efficient sources of biomass- as well as efficient transportation of those biomass at economical cost, Gadkari said, "We know how much of a problem Parali burning (Stubble Burning) is in Punjab and Haryana and how it leads to air-pollution in neighbouring areas, including Delhi. Indian Oil has started a plant in Panipat to solve part of that problem by using it as biomass."

"We are able to use a fifth of the parali at present but if we plan properly, over the next few years--we can solve the seasonal air-pollution problem emanating out of parali. The Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) is doing research on how producing bio-bitumen can reduce our Bitumen imports", the minister added.

At a time when parts of the world are at war with themselves, and geopolitical uncertainties plague, India's annual fossil fuel import bill of Rs 22 lakh crore doesn't augur well, the minister said. We absolutely need to leverage biofuel for self-reliance in fuels and boost the agricultural economy, making our farmers prosperous, he added.

"If we can truly and fully realise the value of the biofuel sector, and integrate the agricultural economy fully into it, the contribution of the agricultural sector to our GDP can finally grow from the existing 14-15 per cent to cross 20 per cent. Our farmers will grow beyond Annadata (food-giver) to Urjadata (energy-giver) to Indhandata (fuel-giver) to Hydrogen-Data (Hydrogen-giver)" said Gadkari.