On February 6, Prime Minister Narendra Modi began distributing gasoline with a 20% ethanol blend in 11 states and union territories across the nation. The action is a part of the government’s plan to utilize more biofuel, reduce emissions, and import less oil. In India, gasoline is currently offered with a 10% ethanol blend. The government intends to quadruple that amount nationwide by 2025, according to the PTI article.
The prime minister introduced the gasoline with 20% ethanol 2 months ahead of its anticipated delivery in April 2023. The ethanol blend has climbed from 1.5% to its present level since 2014. The E-20 gasoline will initially be distributed at 84 gas stations in 15 cities, and it is anticipated that the entire nation would have access to it by 2025.
20% Ethanol Blended Petrol Launched by Indian PM!
According to Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s oil minister, since June 2022, when the E-10 blend was implemented nationwide, the country has saved up to ₹53,984 crores in foreign exchange that would have otherwise been available to oil imports and benefited sugarcane growers. Puri claims that using ethanol made from sugarcane, rice, and other agricultural products can significantly lower the number of foreign imports that India now needs to make up for its 85% oil requirement.
With an expected reduction in carbon monoxide emissions of about 50% for two-wheelers and roughly 30% for four-wheelers, the additional usage of ethanol would also benefit the environment. According to the PTI report, India spent USD 120.7 billion on the import of crude oil in the financial year 2021–2022, which ran from April 2021 to March 2022, while USD 125 billion has been spent on oil imports in the first 9 months of the financial year 2022 from April to December 2022. 540 crore liters of ethanol acquisition are now being sought after in order to accommodate higher volume blending.
