Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on July 4 said that the government believes farmers should not only be recognized as ‘annadata’ or food producers, but also as ‘urjadata’ or energy producers.
“All vehicles will now run on ethanol produced by farmers,” said Gadkari in a rally at Pratapgarh, Rajasthan.
In line with the revised National Policy on Biofuels (2018) and Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme, India is set to reach a blending of 20 percent of ethanol in petrol (E20) by 2025-26. India attained an average ethanol blend rate of 10 percent in petrol in June 2022, according to the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.
Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, has emphasised the need to move from hydrocarbon fuels to fuels that contain ethanol while also outlining the government’s efforts to incorporate ethanol into agricultural and construction machinery.