Govt working on policy for ethanol pumps, says Union minister Gadkari

Amid concerns that the government’s push for green fuels is incomplete without accessible infrastructure, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday that the Centre was working on a policy to establish ethanol pumps in the country.

Gadkari said he would meet Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri in the next 15 days to discuss the formulation of the policy.

“In Pune, we have three (ethanol) pumps but now the problem is that we need to have scooters and auto rickshaws available on flex-fuel engines and we need to coordinate them,” the minister said, underlining the need for the policy.

While the government is expected to come out with a pilot programme for petrol blended with 20 per cent ethanol, Gadkari plans to introduce vehicles run entirely on bioethanol. He added that transport in states like Uttar Pradesh can be operated with the fuel.

The minister also highlighted the issue of transporting ethanol as some states can produce much more than others.

The minister said the fuel holds the potential to help India become an energy exporter, and that the governments of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had held consultations with him on the possibility of importing ethanol to blend it with petrol there.