India has approved the blending of ethanol in petrol from 10% to 20% to reduce air pollution. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) issued a notification on March 8 stating the use of E20, a mix of 20% ethanol and 80% petrol.
The MORTH had issued a draft in December mentioning the type approval of pure ethanol, flex fuel and ethanol-gasoline blend vehicles.
At present, 10% of ethanol is blended with petrol after E10 was made mandatory in 2008. As per the estimates, due to the shortage in availability of ethanol, less than 6% of ethanol is present in gasoline. According to MORTH, the blending percentage at the end of FY18 was 4.22%.
“The studies have revealed that the E20 reduces air pollution by decreasing the carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons emission as compared with normal gasoline,” said MORTH.
The Government through the National Policy on Biofuels 2018 has set a target of 20% ethanol blending by 2030.
