New Delhi: Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday made a big announcement, saying that about 500 ethanol dispensing stations will be set up in the country by December this year. The plan aims to increase the number of these stations to 5,000 by 2027.
This step by the government has been taken mainly with the aim of accelerating the penetration of 'flex fuel' vehicles and reducing the country's dependence on fuel imported from foreign countries.
The Petroleum Minister made this announcement during the launch program of Maruti Suzuki's WagonR. This is India's first flex-fuel car that is fully capable of running on ethanol blended fuel exceeding the current limit of 20 percent.
The launch of this car in the market is a clear indication that the government is moving fast towards making more ethanol available at the pumps and reducing the use of foreign fuel in vehicles.
In this program organized in the presence of Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Hardeep Singh Puri said that earlier efforts were made to set up a large number of E100 dispensing stations, but till then there were no vehicles in the market that could run on this fuel.
Now, after the vehicles are ready, 50 to 100 ethanol stations will be started in major cities like Delhi-NCR, Pune, Mumbai and Nagpur under the initial phase of this scheme.
Government is providing financial support
The government is also taking various supportive steps to bring the use of ethanol and flex fuel vehicles to the general public. The Petroleum Minister clarified that the government is working on helping to keep prices reasonable, providing exemption in road tax and ensuring easy availability of E85 testing fuel.
Along with this, work is also being accelerated towards creating unique identification marks for flex fuel vehicles and retail outlets, conducting consumer awareness campaigns and developing a robust infrastructure for storage and distribution system.