NEW DELHI: Moving ahead of the previously issued schedule, India will be ready to implement E20 norms by the end of this current year or at the very beginning of the next. The announcement was made by Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
E20 means a particular variety of fuel. This variety is a blend of 80% petrol distilled from crude oil and 20% ethanol manufactured from organic materials. Currently, a 10% ethanol blend is available in the Indian markets.
He said that India has reached the ethanol production needed to start the 20% blending. "We are constantly reviewing the ethanol production and I believe, 20% blended fuel would come into the market in December or January ahead of April 2023 (target). We are going to hold a major meeting with automobile manufacturers on ethanol blending," mentioned the minister.
The final target is to reach the goal of 20% blending of all petrol sold in the country by the year 2025. With the establishment of several bio-ethanol production facilities across the nation, the deadline may move closer. Before this announcement, this blend was expected to be available in the market by the middle of 2023.
Sugarcane farmers have found a very lucrative deal after this new technology came up and the demands for their crops gained momentum. Assam's Numaligarh Refinery Limited has also started an ambitious Rs. 1750 Cr biorefinery project to make ethanol from locally available bamboo.
The blending of petrol with ethanol is done to decrease the dependency on crude oil imported from various countries. It is also said to reduce pollution amounts compared to the unblended varieties. However, there have been many complaints regarding the engine requirement, fuel stations, and other technical details because of the water affinity of the ethanol. This has caused many customers to shift to the costlier premium variants, rather than use the blended variety.
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