Ethanol blending is PM's mandate: Minister Rameshwar Teli

GUWAHATI: "Blending of ethanol is the mandate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will result in huge savings to the exchequer which will help bolster the Indian economy," said Minister of State in the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Minister of State in the Ministry of Labour & Employment, Rameshwar Teli on Thursday while talking about the recent controversy surrounding the blending of Ethanol with petrol in Assam."The minister said that years and years of research have gone into the technology of blending of ethanol with petrol and it is a proven technology.

Many studies to prove the efficacy of ethanol-blended petrol have been carried out jointly with the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) of vehicles not just in India, but across the world."He further stated that 2.5 per cent blending in the region is very low and blending needs to be increased to 10 per cent and further to 20 per cent in the days to come, citing examples of countries like Brazil and large Indian States like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra."To aid the availability of ethanol for blending in the region, the Assam Bio-Refinery Pvt. Ltd. has also been set up in Numaligarh with technological assistance from Finland to use Assam bamboo for production of ethanol.

This will further help generate employment as well as contribute to the savings for the country due to reduced crude oil imports. A lot of joint research and investment has been put in before taking the decision of setting up of the Bio-Refinery in Assam. More importantly, the bamboo will be sourced from the rural areas in the region which will help transform the rural landscape in the region into a more prosperous one."Talking about apprehensions expressed by the channel partners of the oil industry, he advised the representatives of the oil marketing companies present in the meeting to ensure that underground tanks of petrol pumps are cleaned thoroughly before ethanol blended petrol is decanted into the tanks of the petrol pumps.

"Minister Teli visited the Guwahati Terminal (Betkuchi) of Indian Oil on Thursday and had a look at the facilities available and discussed about the future plans of the development of the Terminal."Welcoming Teli to the Terminal, Chief General Manager (Operations) from Indian Oil K V Ramanamurthy said that it was a red-lettered day for the location as it is the first time that any minister has visited the terminal since its commissioning in 1991. A press release said.

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