Narendra Modi launched the higher 20 percent ethanol blended petrol two months ahead of the planned rollout in April.
Published Feb 06, 2023 | 2:53 PM ⚊ Updated Feb 06, 2023 | 2:53 PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking at the India Energy Week 2023 in Bengaluru. (Screengrab)
Petrol with 20 percent ethanol was rolled out on Monday, 6 February, at select petrol pumps in 11 states and Union Territories as part of a programme to increase the use of biofuels to cut emissions as well as dependence on foreign exchange-draining imports.
It is being launched in Delhi, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Haryana, Maharashtra, Punjab, Daman Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli.
At present, 10 percent ethanol is blended in petrol (10 percent ethanol, 90 percent petrol) and the government is looking to double this quantity by 2025.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the higher 20 percent ethanol blended petrol two months ahead of the planned rollout in April, at the India Energy Week (IEW) 2023 in Bengaluru.
“We have increased ethanol blending in petrol from 1.5 percent (in 2014) to 10 percent and are now progressing towards 20 percent blending,” Modi said.
In the first phase, 15 cities will be covered and in the next two years, it will be expanded throughout the country.
India saved as much as ₹53,894 crore in forex outgo from 10 percent blending besides benefiting the farmers.
E-20 (petrol with 20 percent ethanol) will be available at 84 petrol pumps of three state-owned fuel retailers in 11 States/UTs.
Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said India achieved blending of 10 percent ethanol in petrol, 5 months in advance during June 2022.
“We also advanced the availability of E20 blended petrol to 2025, 5 years from earlier planned in 2030,” he said, adding that now E20 is being rolled out ahead of schedule on a pilot basis.
“As a country on a fast trajectory of economic growth, India is projected to witness the largest increase in energy demand of any country over the next two decades, accounting for close to 28 percent of incremental global growth in energy demand,” he said.
Addressing the #IndiaEnergyWeek 2023 in Bengaluru. https://t.co/CmpRrAJiDC
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 6, 2023
The use of ethanol, extracted from sugarcane as well as broken rice and other agri produce, will help the world’s third largest oil consumer and importing country cut its reliance on overseas shipments. India currently is 85 percent dependent on imports for meeting its oil needs. Also, it cuts carbon emissions.
The use of E20 leads to an estimated reduction of carbon monoxide emissions by about 50 percent in two-wheelers and about 30 percent in four-wheelers compared to E0 (neat petrol). Hydrocarbon emissions are estimated to reduce by 20 percent in both two-wheelers and passenger cars.
India spent $120.7 billion on the import of crude oil in the 2021-22 fiscal (April 2021 to March 2022). In the current fiscal, $125 billion have been spent on oil imports in the first nine months (April 2022 to December 2022) alone.
As much as 440 crore litre of ethanol was blended in petrol during the supply year ending 30 November, 2022.
For the next year, 540 crore litres procurement is being targeted with an eye to start larger volumes of blending.
The target of achieving an average 10 percent blending was achieved in June 2022, much ahead of the target date of November 2022. Encouraged by the success, the government advanced the target of 20 percent ethanol blending in petrol from earlier 2030 to 2025.
The programme gives sugarcane farmers an additional source of income. During the last eight years, ethanol suppliers have earned ₹81,796 crore while farmers have got ₹49,078 crore. The country saved ₹53,894 crore in foreign exchange outgo. Also, it led to reduction of 318 lakh tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
Along with the launch of E20, the Green Mobility Rally was also part of the IEW-23 to create public awareness for the green fuels in the country such as E20, flex fuels, hydrogen and CNG etc.
The Rally route had displays of creatives showing benefits accrued in terms of foreign exchange, income to farmers and GHG emission reductions. The Green Mobility Rally had various types of two-, three- and four-wheeler vehicles such as E20, E85, CNG, and Hydrogen vehicles.
Automobile engines can run on E-20 (petrol doped with 20 per cent ethanol) with minor modifications in the engine for corrosion etc.
The government has notified the administered price of ethanol since 2014. For the first time in 2018, the differential price of ethanol based on feedstock utilized for ethanol production was announced by the government.
These decisions have significantly improved the supply of ethanol, consequently, ethanol procurement by public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) has increased from 38 crore litre in Ethanol Supply Year 2013-14 (ESY defined as ethanol supply period from 1 December of a year to 30 November of the following year) to contracts of over 452 crore litre in ongoing ESY 2021-22.
The current annual ethanol production capacity in the country is about 1,037 crore litres which include 700 crore litres of molasses-based and 337 crore litres of grain-based production capacity.
Oil PSUs are also setting up second-generation (2G) ethanol bio-refineries at Panipat (Haryana), at Bathinda (Punjab) and at Bargarh (Odisha), each with a production capacity of 100 kilo litre per day (KLPD) and at Numaligarh (Assam) with a production capacity of 185 KLPD.
As per the Roadmap prepared by NITI Aayog which is based on the projected sale of petrol, the estimated requirement of ethanol for blending with petrol is 542 crore litres for ESY 2022-23, 698 crore litres for ESY 2023-24, 988 crore litres for ESY 2024-25 and 1016 crore litres for ESY 2025-26.
Oil firms have procured 80.09 crore litres of ethanol up to 30 January, 2023 for blending in petrol during the ESY 2022-23 and 6 crore litres of bio-diesel for blending with diesel during the financial year 2022-23.
(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)
