Number of ethnol-dispensing stations to be increased to 5000 by next year: Oil Minister
New Delhi, June 4: The number of ethanol-dispensing stations is expected to rise to 500 by the end of this year and to 5,000 by next year, according to Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
He said the government is rolling out 50–100 ethanol dispensing stations across Delhi-NCR, Pune, Mumbai and Nagpur to reduce fossil fuel imports.
India has increased ethanol blending in petrol from 1.5 per cent in 2014 to 20 per cent currently.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has proposed amendments to vehicle emission norms to expand the use of higher ethanol blends and alternative fuels, including E85, E100, B100 biodiesel and hydrogen-CNG combinations across vehicle categories.
According to Puri, if half of newly-manufactured two-wheelers and four-wheelers become flex-fuel compliant, India could generate an additional ethanol demand of 311.8 crore litres and an estimated Rs 12,403 crore in additional income for farmers.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event, Puri said compliant Euro VI vehicles running on E100 fuel could help reduce fossil fuel imports, which currently stand at around USD 120 billion annually.
He said 60 per cent of India’s LPG imports and 90 per cent of crude oil imports pass through the Strait of Hormuz but despite that there had been no fuel shortages in the country.
