Government Policy on Methanol Blended Petrol: Government is planning to implement a policy that will require petrol companies to blend petrol with 15% methanol for overall cost reduction.
Union Roads Minister Nitin Gadkari has suggested the petroleum ministry to look into this matter as focusing more on ethanol, methanol blending will prove lesser harmful to the environment that opening new petrol refineries in India.
The upcoming parliament session will act as the medium for further discussion on this topic. Methanol costs just INR 22 per liter while petrol prices are almost close to INR 70 in most cities.
The use of methanol could cut almost INR 7 from the price of every liter of fuel being dispensed in India. The coal byproduct is actually manufactured in China at just INR 17. Cost and pollution, both will go down with the use of blended petrol for sure.
Brazilian market uses a blended version of petrol and the engine performance values in Brazilian cars are different with both fuels. The same will soon be a case with the Indian market. However, no word on the compatibility of engines with sudden change in fuel was heard from any sector of the automobile market.
Gadkari mentioned that INR 70,000 Crore on a petrol refinery is not a great idea when byproduct of coal can solve the problem in an easy manner. Pollution is a big factor that affects every citizen of the country. No one can run away from the situation as wind will take the same matter from one place to another, ultimately resulting in health hazards around the country.
Delhi was hit by the worst ever smog this year. If everything stays the same, the condition will become deadly in nature. Shifting to electric drive-trains is also an important step but raising taxes on hybrid vehicles further ends the scope of sale for a developing country like India.
