Petroleum Minister Murli Deora has given oil companies the go-ahead to market ethanol-blended petrol throughout the country from November 1.
The pricing of the ethanol mix has been kept open.
NEW DELHI: Petroleum Minister Murli Deora has given oil companies the go-ahead to market ethanol-blended petrol throughout the country from November 1. Only the Northeast, Jammu & Kashmir, Lakshadweep, and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands are being kept out of the programme because of poor accessibility.
The programme is not mandatory and is subject to the availability of ethanol. India produces about 1,200 million litres of ethanol from molasses, a by-product of sugar production, annually. About 500 million litres are already being used for the 5 per cent blending programme in 10 states, including Maharashtra, and three Union territories.
“Oil marketing companies have been given complete freedom to protect their commercial interests in arriving at workable ethanol pricing,” an official statement said.
The move comes just two days before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh leaves for Brazil, which is the leader in the use of ethanol. “With oil prices rising and fossil fuels becoming scarce, the world can learn from the Brazilian experiment,” Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said.
Brazil has decided that at least 10 per cent of its fuel needs for transport should be met with ethanol. “It is hoping to promote this internationally,” Saran said. “India will be a member of this initiative.”
The oil-marketing companies have begun issuing public notices to procure indigenous anhydrous ethanol in different states. Not having a declared price opens the window for cheaper procurement that may hit distillers and sugar producers. But they are not complaining. “At least there will be offtake,” said Sanjay Tapriya, finance director and company secretary of the Simbhaoli Sugar Mills.
Ethanol blending, an initiative of former petroleum minister Ram Naik, began in nine sugarcane-growing states and contiguous Union territories in 2003. But a fall in cane production, restrictions on interstate movements of ethanol, and suppliers backing out slowed the programme.
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