NOTIFICATION
ISSUED MAKING DOPING OF ETHANOL WITH PETROL MANDATORY FROM 1ST
JANUARY 2003 IN 9 STATES AND 4 UTs
CONTROL
ORDER REGULATING SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION OF PETROL AMENDED
In view of the need to build up ethanol
availability in the country Government has decided to mandate
the use of petrol doped with 5% ethanol i.e. Gasohol, in two phases
throughout the country. Phase-I, to commence from 1st
January 2003, will focus on the major sugar producing States while
Phase-II would be taken up subsequently to cover the rest of the
regions. The Control Order regulating supply and distribution
of petrol has also been amended accordingly. The resolution mandating
gasohol supply in the Phase-I States/Union Territories as well
as the amendment of the MS & HSD (Regulation of Supply and
Distribution and Prevention of malpractices) Control Order, 2002
have been notified in the Gazette. The 9 States covered under
the first phase are: Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka,
Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. The 4 Union
Territories are Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar
Haveli and Pondicherry. The blended fuel i.e. Gasohol would be
supplied through 11,538 retail outlets in these States and UTs.
The total petrol consumption in these
States and Union Territories was over 4.6 million tonnes in 2001-2002.
At this level, the estimated ethanol required for blending with
petrol would be approximately in the range of 32-35 crore litres
per year. These States have geared themselves up to encourage
the sugar industries and distillery units to augment their ethanol
production capacity. The Sugar Development Fund Act, 1982 has
been amended to fund such augmentation programmes.
It may be recalled that the Government
had earlier launched three Pilot Projects – two in Maharashtra
and one U.P. for production and sale of 5% ethanol doped petrol.
The first Pilot Project commenced operations in April 2001 at
Miraj-Hazarwadi Depot in Maharashtra and the remaining two in
June 2001 at Bareilly in U.P. and Manmad in Maharashtra. These
projects confirmed the suitability of use of gasohol fuel in vehicles
without requirement of any modification as also its potential
to reduce environmental pollution on account of its oxygenate
quality. Added to these, use of gasohol also confers advantage
of boosting production in the agricultural and industrial sectors
and requires no alteration in the existing specification of petrol
notified by the Bureau of Indian Standards.
