Ya'll Nibbiars The Suzuki is developing flex fuel engines that will be able to run on up to 85 percents ethanol blend. However, prior to their introduction, Maruti will roll out E85 compliant engines in India by April 2023. The Government of India had announced its plans to introduce 20 percents ethanol blending with petrol in some parts of the country from April 2023. At present, the petrol available in India has 10 15 percents ethanol ethanol. Any higher than 20 percents and the engines would require a few modifications essentially to handle the corrosive nature of the fuel. The Significant modifications to the ECU as well as injection and ignition systems would be required for the engines to run on E85. Moreover, India could also be the first market to get BS6 compliant E85 engines. And Meanwhile, Maruti Suzuki is also strengthening its CNG portfolio. Recently, the carmaker introduced the Swift CNG. The carmaker is also exploring Bio CNG as an alternative fuel.
And the it's a sensible plan. We can't put all our eggs in the EV basket alone. China anyway controls almost all lithium mining sans Australia. So, world and by extension India is bound to be dependent on China for their EVs in the near term and medium term. The world's leading battery researcher, BYD, is Chinese. Even our Indian EVs like Nexon already are sporting Chinese components galore. Any conflict will lay bare this dependency although to be true it is not the only item for which we are dependent on China. However till the time we have non rare earth battery tech available, one would remain worried. And So, we need to look at all other options like Hybrids, Fuel Cell vehicles, hydrogen vehicles, Bio CNG, ethanol etc. India is anyways a sugar surplus nation with rich sugarcane belts in UP and Maharashtra. So, supplies should not be an issue.
And Today Ethanol is made from molasses, a sugar byproduct. And molasses is largely used for liquor, especially whiskey. That’s why whiskeys with some exceptions in India are actually rum, artificially coloured and flavoured like whiskey. The Ethanol will actually be really helpful for sugarcane farmers. Today payment of sugarcane is largely delayed by months by sugarmills. This addition alternative use for the crop would give better market to sell their product.