The Cabinet group on Economic Affairs has forwarded an order, which makes it obligatory for all the state-owned oil refining firms to mix ethanol with petrol.
The ministry’s order has made five percent Ethanol blend necessary for petrol.
This step has been taken with the aim to lessen the country’s dependency on the imports of fossil fuel.
Ethanol is available at cheaper rates as compared to petrol, so the losses, which the oil firms bear, must be lower because of the new order.
The oil firms have been mixing ethanol with petrol for sometime now, however, there has been no regulation to this effect.
The majority of petrol vehicles available in the Indian market are already E10 prepared that entails they can accept up to a 10 per cent mix of ethanol.
This is vital as ethanol is acidic to rubber components, so the life of components such as rubber hoses and seals will be reduced if the engine is not adapted to accept the accurate blend of ethanol.