The Hindu : Fresh deadline set for launch of ethanol-mixed petrol

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 18, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Fresh deadline set for launch of ethanol-mixed petrol

By N. Ravi Kumar

CHENNAI, JAN. 16. The Centre has set January 31 as the fresh deadline for oil marketing companies to launch the sale of 5 per cent ethanol-blended petrol in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.

A notification, issued on January 1 by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, gives a new lease of life to the eco-friendly ethanol-mix petrol programme in the State. Tamil Nadu, from where Pondicherry draws its requirement of petroleum products, figured in the list of nine States in which the project was to be originally launched on January 1 last.

By implication, the recent notification nullifies what was issued on September 30, 2003, by the Ministry, keeping in abeyance the sale of the product in the State and the Union Territory. In turn, the new deadline has spurred Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, to give final touches to their plans for introducing the fuel-mix.

While many key aspects of the programme, including the price at which the sugar industry will supply the anhydrous ethyl alcohol to the companies, have been settled, ``a few issues have to be resolved by the State Government,'' a senior official of the oil industry told The Hindu.

To begin with, the State must issue licences to the companies for ``receiving ethanol at our terminals,'' where the sugarcane by-product will be mixed with petrol. The companies, he said, had already put in place the requisite systems at their oil terminals and petrol pumps, particularly to prevent moisture in the underground storage tanks.

The oil industry, the official said, was also opposed to the State Government decision posting its employees at the bulk storage locations of the companies ``to monitor the activities.'' Together, the companies have bulk storage facilities in 23 places in the State.

The companies have sought permission from the State Government to transport ethanol from distilleries to their locations without police protection.

``Both the requirements (posting of State Government employees and police protection during transportation) will add-up to the cost for the oil companies,'' which in effect would have to be recovered from the consumers. Non-availability of police personnel, on time, might also delay supply of ethanol-mixed petrol, the official said.

On the pricing, the official said: ``The cost to the consumer will remain the same.'' The State Government in early-October last had reduced the sales tax on ethanol to 8 per cent - previously it was 12 per cent plus surcharge. With the oil industry tender for supply of 48,648-kilo litres of ethanol in the State and Pondicherry by the distilleries valid for a year, ``our fear in the long run is how to bridge the losses if the price (of ethanol) increases.''

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu