Biofuel/Flex Fuel Engines Could Soon Become Mandatory For Carmakers: Nitin Gadkari

In a recent virtual press conference, India’s Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari revealed that flex fuel engines could soon become mandatory for carmakers in India. 

Flex fuel engines, which are capable of running on 100 percent petrol or 100 percent ethanol, and are already available in countries such as Brazil, the US, and Canada. Ethanol, commonly known as biofuel, is a pure form of alcohol made from sugarcane among other things.

During the virtual press conference, Nitin Gadkari, said, "I am transport minister, I am going to issue an order to the industry that only petrol engines will not be there, there will be flex fuel engines, where there will be choice for the people that they can use 100 percent ethanol or 100 percent crude oil. I am going to take a decision within 8-10 days and we will make it mandatory for the automobile industry to make flex engines."

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This statement follows the deadline extension for increasing the amount of ethanol in fuel. As per the latest standards, petrol engines should be able to deal with 10 percent ethanol by April 2022 and 20 percent by 2025. The 20 percent deadline had previously been set for 2030. To know more about how ethanol will affect your car, head here.

There are advantages and disadvantages to using ethanol, which have been covered in detail in our story linked above. Essentially, the use of ethanol will reduce the price of fuel, but it will also relatively decrease the fuel efficiency of cars.

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While a final decision is still pending, we expect one mandating flex fuel engines to be announced soon because under the tutelage of Gadkari, India’s vehicle infrastructure has grown leaps and bounds. Over the last four years, several deadlines to meet emission, crash test, and other such norms have been brought forward. We expect a similar approach with flex fuel engines.

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