RAM NAIK APPROVES Rs. 7.26 CRORE FOR R & D IN ETHANOL BLENDING
WITH PETROL AND DIESEL
Shri Ram Naik, Minister of Petroleum
& Natural Gas, has sanctioned a proposal of Rs. 7.26 crore
for undertaking Research & Development (R&D) Studies for
blending ethanol with petrol and diesel. This includes a grant
of Rs.4.01 crore for R&D studies using ethanol-diesel blends
on Indian engines/vehicles. An amount of Rs.3.25 crore is also
earmarked for R&D studies using ethanol-gasoline (petrol)
blends including the study of feasibility to blend 10% of ethanol
with gasoline. These funds will be provided by the Oil Industry
Development Board (OIDB).
The R&D Project aims at making use of sugarcane
molasses for producing ethanol in the country which will help
save foreign exchange by reducing the import dependence of the
country for meeting its requirements of hydrocarbons. At present,
about 70 per cent of our requirement of crude oil is met by imports.
Moreover the blending of ethanol helps better combustion of fuel
as it acts as oxygenate thereby reducing emission of pollutants
from vehicles. The R & D Projects are being implemented by
R&D Centre of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to establish the
effect of using ethanol-gasoline/diesel blend. The R&D Studies
in this regard will help to know sustainability in Indian conditions,
effect on quality of emission, cost of alcohol, etc. Efforts are
being made to get approval of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)
to blend ethanol in petrol upto 10 per cent as at present ethanol
blending in petrol is allowed upto 5 per cent as per BIS Specification.
The Government has also signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with Brazil on 8.4.2002 for sharing of technology,
information, experience, consultancy, etc., in blending of ethanol
with petrol and diesel. Brazil and USA are leading countries in
the use of ethanol-blended fuels.
It may be recalled that the use of ethanol for
blending with petrol/diesel is being encouraged by the Government
in view of its benefits to the country in the form of reduction
in import dependence, reduction in pollutants from vehicular emissions
and benefit to the farmers who would get better returns on the
sugarcane produce. The Government has already taken an in-principle
decision to allow use of 5 per cent ethanol for blending with
petrol throughout the country in two phases. After successful
implementation of three pilot projects (two in Maharashtra at
Manmad and Miraj and one in U.P. at Bareilly), six more pilot
projects have been approved. These include three in U.P. at Gonda,
Kanpur (Panki) and Najibabad, two in Punjab at Bhatinda and Pathankot
and one in Andhra Pradesh at Rajamundhry. These Pilot Projects
are part of the first phase of Government’s endeavour to cover
the entire country with the supply of ethanol blended petrol.
During the first phase eight States which include Andhra
Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil
Nadu and Uttar Pradesh would be covered while the rest of the
country would be covered in the second phase.
