This refers to the report "Car makers not ready for more ethanol" (August 10). It seems Tata Motors is unsure about E10 in existing engines and any need to make changes to the fuel tanks or rubber parts. Some clarifications are necessary to remove doubts on the proposed 10 per cent ethanol blending with petrol.
BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) standards were prescribed by the government for E10 in April 2008, after a two-stage approval by the following committees of BIS:
(i) PCD-1: The Petroleum, Lubricants and their related products Sectional Committee. PCD-1 included representatives from the Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP) Dehradun, IOCL, BPCL, HPCL, the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, ONGC, DGCA, DRDO, RDSO and the Automotive Research Association of India.
(ii) PCDC: The Petroleum, Coal and Related Products Division Council. PCDC also included the IIP Dehradun, environment ministry, food ministry, petroleum ministry, defence ministry, oil companies, Petroleum Conservation Research Association, Mahindra & Mahindra and most importantly, Siam - the representative association of automobile industries.
So, representatives from the automobile industry were part of the committees that approved and fixed the BIS standards for ethanol blending. They did not feel the need to prescribe any modifications in the engines or rubber parts for E10.
Oil marketing companies have already been blending 10 per cent ethanol with petrol for the past one year in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Goa and Karnataka. No modification in the engines of any vehicle of any brand was required in these states.
Abinash Verma Director General, Indian Sugar Mills Association
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