The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) conducted an International Conference on 'Biofuels as a part of year-round activities to promote ethanol. The conference was in line with the Government of India's vision to promote the usage of biofuels for transportation. The government has mandated E20 material (20 per cent ethanol blended) compliant engines from April 2023 and is pushing for increase in ethanol volume in Octane fuel since its agriculture-based fuel and is more organic. The Government of India has mandated SIAM for taking promotional measures for ethanol in the country jointly with the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) as a Transportation Fuel.
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Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas said, "It is essential to explore and promote alternative energy resources to reduce dependence on the import of fossil fuels. Taking into account Amrit kaal: Vision 2047 goals, where we intend to grow our 3 trillion-dollar economy to 32 trillion dollars, and therefore, our energy requirements are bound to rise to account for lifestyle, trade, and manufacturing development. Additionally, environmental conservation is also critical to our developmental journey. Under the SATAT scheme, many entrepreneurs have established CBG plants to produce and supply CBG to Oil Marketing Companies. With the assistance of OMCs and other enthusiastic players, 37 CBG plants have been commissioned, and approximately 9000 tonnes of Compressed Biogas have already been sold. In order to make decarbonised mobility a reality, Indian automakers must stay on the path of sustainability."
Moreover, ethanol adoption will also help reduce India's dependency on fuel import since India can produce ethanol at a bigger scale in the domestically. The important deadlines decided for pan India implementation of E-20 are 2023 for vehicles to be material compliant, and 2025 for vehicles to be fully E-20 compliant.
