Green fuel to hit old car, two-wheeler budgets

NEW DELHI: Come October, you may be forced to cough up more money on fuel unless your vehicle is fit to run on ethanol-blended petrol, E-10. Vehicles incompatible with E-10 would be forced to run on branded petrol ��� such as Speed, XtraPremium and Power ��� which is about Rs 2 a litre costlier than normal petrol. The worst hit would be two-wheelers and old cars.

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has approved E-10 specifications and the government is set to issue the notification. ���The impact would be more on smaller engines as the heat content of ethanol is lower than gasoline���s. This would lead to low engine power. Generally speaking, the two-wheeler segment would be hit hard,��� a technical head of a leading automobile manufacturing firm said.

According to a Bajaj Auto official, ���There is a huge population of old motorcycles and scooters. E-10 would cause some two-wheeler components to wear out fast.���

A solution is being worked out by the government. ���We are planning to have two types of petrol in retail outlets as per recommendations of the technical panel,��� a petroleum ministry source said. BIS had appointed an ad-hoc panel under chairmanship of Indian Oil Corp executive director (R&D) R K Malhotra to examine technical issues related to E-10 use.

The panel recommended that petrol pumps should be allowed to sell two types of petrol from October: the E-10 and the branded petrol. ���Siam desired that on-road vehicles may have the choice of using E-10 or normal gasoline. In view of the practical difficulties in managing several grades, the panel suggested that branded fuel may be exempted from ethanol blending,��� it said.

When contracted, Mr Malhotra said, ���E-10 is suitable for most vehicles. While some vehicles may require minor changes, a few may have problems.��� He said the government plans to undertake R&D work for such vehicles and their problems would also been addressed appropriately.

Auto majors such as Maruti Suzuki are getting ready. ���We would be prepared much ahead of the due date. To make a vehicle compatible to run on up to 10% ethanol-blended petrol, some modifications are required that include fuel tank, pipeline and fuel pumps. The existing products can also run on E-10 and nothing would happen to the vehicle in the short run,��� Maruti Suzuki India executive director (engineering) I V Rao said.

In October 2007, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) made it mandatory to blend 5% ethanol with petrol with immediate effect and notified sale of a 10% ethanol-blended petrol from October 2008.