New Delhi: Taking a step ahead to reduce India’s dependence on oil imports, the Union government has set the target of achieving 20 per cent ethanol-blending with petrol by 2023. Earlier the government had set a deadline for 20 per cent ethanol blending to 2030 which was brought forward to 2025 last year and now it is advanced to April 2023.
The Oil Ministry said in a Gazette notification, “The Central Government hereby directs that the oil companies shall sell ethanol-blended petrol with a percentage of ethanol up to 20 per cent as per the Bureau of Indian Standards specifications, in the whole of the States and union territories. This Notification shall come into force with effect from the 1st April 2023.”
India is sitting with surplus sugar, therefore the government has asked sugar mills to focus on ethanol production, which will not only help to reduce the glut but also assist in clearing the pending cane dues.
