[YK85]

Originally Posted by Gansan

I understand Brazil has from 0:100 ethanol/petrol all the way up to 100:0, with varying blends and price points in between, and they are none the worse for it. I read FIAT is the Maruti of Brazil and they have cars which will run on pure ethanol or pure gas, or any blend of the two.

But we don't have such vehicles. So will the government pay compensation for damaging our existing vehicles?

[FiatDiesel]

We don’t realise today that entire system is getting manipulated and changed to fill in the coffers of specific lobby & eventually this will become permanent with no chance of rollback. While decade ago even gas cylinder prices and rupee increase in fuel used to get debated but today policy changes which indirectly cost the general population dearly are no longer debated in national media or are not even a topic.

With this frequent change in policy, buying ICE vehicles will not be wise move. Keep your money safe.

[Hatchback_dude]

Originally Posted by Gansan

It is a perfectly good move, if they implement it properly. Replacing 30% of our total imported petroleum needs with locally made renewable stuff is no small feat. That money is going to circulate only within our economy, even if our pump prices are not reduced. Probably pump prices are not going up further because of this reason too.

Crude oil prices are quite low at the moment but GOI just increased prices for end users. We already pay a lot more than we should be for fuel.
There has never been an incremental reduction in fuel pricing commensurate to the alcohol percentage they add. This is unfair to the customer buying the fuel suffering from a double whammy of both increased fuel price and a possible wear and tear of vehicle parts because of the increased alcohol content.

[somersault]

Originally Posted by Needforspeed004

Government wants farms to move away for crops like wheat and rice to crops which have other commercials importance and usage.

The current production of some of non commercial crops(majorly wheat) is almost 1.4x the consumption hence this could solve multiple problems in the long run.

In order to save on the foreign exchange etc, we are over using the most precious resource we have in our country. The drinking water.

Sugarcane drink tons of water and in most cases this water is diverted from the drinking supply for the mass people (even though it is reserved for the purpose). Increasing ethanol blending will increase the use of the drinking water for sugarcane.

One wise man predicted, the third world war will be fought on the supply of drinking water.

Has government made any study on the effect of increase in the ethanol production and impact on the drinking water? I guess not.

[Needforspeed004]

The effort is more towards moving from food crops to commercial crop not only towards sugarcane but crop jatropa and other plant varieties which can yield better return to farmers and reduce the dependency on crude import.

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by Needforspeed004

The effort is more towards moving from food crops to commercial crop not only towards sugarcane but crop jatropa and other plant varieties which can yield better return to farmers and reduce the dependency on crude import.

And eat what sir?

While wheat is the staple food of a large part of India, majority of south Indian states rely on (non-Basmati type, affordable varieties of) rice for nutrition. Sugarcane, wherever it has replaced paddy as the main crop, has only resulted in excess utilization of water for irrigation, pollution due to burning of stalks and during production of sugar. Only a handful of farmers, who have large, unified tracts of land have benefited from cultivating sugarcane. The rest, with an acre or two under them, have only been suffering due to the apathy and high handedness of both the government and the factory owners.

That we are paying close to hundred bucks for a kilo of rice is testimony to and indicative respectively of the present shortage of and future threat to the availability of essential food grains in India.

I just hope that a new set of rules won't mandate compulsory inclusion of 30% Ethanol (or its siblings) in human food. God forbid a situation where the future generations of homo sapiens will be forced to be E-30 compliant at birth!

[Needforspeed004]

I agree with what you are saying but if you look at IFCI data the storage capacity post the purchase season gets exhausted and the losses due to rodents are ever increasing.

If the farmer moves to a crop that is commercially more rewarding corp the entire ecosystem will have to adapt.

You are right in saying, has the government planned on how water and other resources utilisation be optimised and that a issue i think will have to be addressed.

The forex preserved has to be channelized in to infra projects including water conservation. In the long run a dependable agri produce to replace fossil fuel may be the direction we want to move in.

[Sidjohri]

I recently went to a fuel station in Delhi (near Lodhi road) where there was a dedicated and clearly marked dispenser for E20 petrol. Other dispensers had the regular E10 fuel, which was verified by the attendant as well as the manager. So is E20 still optional or am I (fuel station folks) missing something?

[GeeTee TSI]

What I find unfair and third world in implementation, is the 'covert' nature of ethanol blending. I cannot be sure of the grade of fuel compatible with what my fuel lid says. Since time immemorial we have only had two commodities - petrol and diesel, no word on octane and now, ethanol blending is following the same approach.

We have traversed through blissful ignorance, 87 RON to 91 IIRC with even 95 RON being a relatively new offering in select pumps. I would hate to see ethanol blending also take this unlabelled approach of filling whatever grade the refiners dispatch to the outlets.The fuel quality tampering and its variability is bad enough and now we have another variable shoved down our throats.

I pine for the fuel to be what it says on the label and also to have a label in the first place.

[kadanaJ]

I'm actually relieved reading this thread.

Going by the grand statements made by our government and certain ministers, I have barely been using my 2017 Baleno which is NOT E20 compatible. I've been freaking out at the petrol pump everytime thinking my car is getting destroyed by unmarked E20 petrol.

I have been undergoing great mental stress thinking my car is being destroyed from the inside, because the government is implementing rules without any study or thought.

Thank you members of this forum for clarifying what the ground reality is. That E20 is not being mixed everywhere and that I am putting safe E10 fuel in my Baleno, which it should be able to handle.

[mack.mehul]

This is daylight robbery by the BJP government. I will explain how:

1. First keep the fuel prices artifically high even though the current price of crude oil is at all time low.
2. Blend ethanol in petrol and keep increasing ethanol percentage in fuel to fleece the public.

At this rate, the only option will be to convert the car to CNG or buy hybrid. We deserve atleast a fuel price cut of atleast Rs. 10-15 but still we are paying high fuel prices.

[RS/GT]

Government wants to dump old vehicles to increase sales of E20/30 compliant/labelled car, thus more profit to big industrialists and they will ultimately support the government.
They just want to hide this agenda in the name of pollution.

I was thinking to get my Polo GT tuned and get a sporty exhaust. I think I should drop this idea. Not worth of spending money on mods because what if my car engine breaks down due to huge ethanol.

[Swapnil4585]

Dinosaurs weren't able to follow Charles Darwin. They ceased to exist. Some of us who do not want to succumb to the EV juggernaut, the 3-cylinder turbocharged petrol engines, the small 4 cylinder naturally aspirated petrol engines; but also want to stay as car users. Where do we go? For me, it is about time to look at Brazil and order one 1ZZ FBE for my Altis or rather import one Altis itself.

The import duties for import of such private cars for singular private use must be brought down - is the easiest way for us petrolheads to accept this.

[vipul_singh]

From a *car owner* perspective only: let E100 also be available, that's fine. But only as long as E10 is left uncorrupted and stays true to spec.

The main issue is with *regular* petrol having more and more ethanol, in violation of its labeling.

[Mitadru]

Another day ,another whimsical Sarkari babu. They must smoking Ganja every day to be so high , that they can't see ground realities. If more and more fields are taken up for Sugarcane cultivation, then in long term it'll be a problem. Then India would have to import food grains , thus dstroying whatever cost saving would be done by reduced import of Petroleum. The government is any way filling up the coffers in the name of loss recovery, even when they're importing cheap low quality Russian Petroleum, which none of our refinery plants can properly refine, without increasing maintenance downtime. So much for "sabka vikas"

Now the white elephant (which the government thinks is a mosquito), the power grid. Will each and every car charger in India be powered by Solar ? Will the DC fast chargers along the highways be solar charged? If no, will the grid be able to supply such a huge demand of electricity? Will there be not greater pollution, since the power plants , like the government, hardly adheres to any rules regarding exhaust system and their management? It's very easy to say I want to get things done, without considering ground realities

Instead of banning 15 year old petrol and 10 years old diesel, why not introduce mandatory pollution checks, correct for that era of vehicles? Why charge 15 years road tax only to allow the car to be valid for 10 years ?Ofcourse you won't bring changes, because you will use the money to fill up your pockets and vested interests.

With the price of everyday items skyrocketing, and instead of reducing them, you're increasing the cost of cooking gas cylinders, which again should be vastly reduced because of importing cheap Russian Petroleum.

I end my rant here, but it's time we the common people raise our collective voices against these whimsical ideas, without any political flag. Only then will we be able to develop as a country