India Looking To Reduce Dependence On Petrol, Will Push For Methanol Fuel In Next Five Years

In order to cut down on the gigantic crude oil import and lessen its dependence upon it, India aims to scale its methanol economy to new heights. If Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is to be believed, the country is targeting for a multi-fold increase in its methanol consumption, so much so that the 5-year long goal is to take it up to Rs 2 lakh crore from its present stance at Rs 11,000 crore.

In his inaugural address at the electric vehicle expo, the transport minister said ¡°It is our endeavour to take Rs 11,000 crore methanol economy to Rs 1.5-2 lakh crore economy in five years.¡± He further mentioned that methanol is priced around Rs 22 a litre in India and should be treated as an ideal substitute to petrol and diesel.

Reuters

The goal is to limit the country¡¯s expense on crude oil, ¡°a huge amount of foreign exchange goes out of the country due to crude oil imports. We need to check it¡± emphasised the minister. For this, the government has constituted five task forces including one on its production from high ash coal.

Methanol is used as an alternative fuel for vehicles, usually mixed with petroleum based fuel in a percentage between 10 to 15. Niti Aayog recently expressed its plans to test-run petrol cars on 15% methanol. If the move is approved by the cabinet, a 10% reduction in monthly petrol bills is expected.

Reuters

Methanol is comparatively much cheaper than petroleum based fuel. It is also a lot cleaner, because of which it can act as the intermediate step for India¡¯s move towards electric vehicles. In addition, Methanol is also a lot more safer than petroleum, considering its less flammability.

India imported 212.7 million tonne of crude oil in 2016-17 and as per the estimates, a 15 per cent methanol blending can result as an alternative to around 31.9 million tonne of crude oil. Methanol comes at a lower cost as it can be produced through a variety of carbon-based feed stocks, such as coal and natural gas.

So will the increase in the Methanol consumption lower India¡¯s expense on crude oil? Definitely, as the fuel will act as a substitute, an equal amount of crude oil import will be done away with. Even the end users or consumers are bound to benefit from this, with lesser petrol costs expected with its use.

Nitin Gadkari recently also said that driverless cars or autonomous technology will not be allowed in India. He said, ¡°For the driverless cars, I have a hesitation. We have decided not to allow driverless cars in India. I am sorry."

(With inputs from PTI)