Sale of petrol blended with ethanol allowed

Our Infrastructure Bureau

New Delhi, Dec 10: In a significant decision that will help save foreign exchange and boost prospects of sugarcane growers and oil industry, the Centre announced in the Lok Sabha on Monday that petrol will be allowed to be blended with ethanol for sale.

In a suo motu statement, petroleum minister Ram Naik said that sale of petrol blended with ethanol at the rate of 5 per cent in the country will be implemented in two phases.

During the first phase, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh would be covered and, in the second phase, the rest of the country, he added.

Mr Naik said the existing three pilot projects would take up blending of ethanol in petrol at the rate of 10 per cent after sorting the issues such as modifications of specifications of the Bureau of Indian Standards.