A sputtering start
after soft-pedalling on the issue for long and granting a deadline extension, the Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas has finally announced that eight states and four union territories (uts) would be switching over to ethanol-blended petrol by the end of September. But given the fact that the roadblocks which led to the initial postponement still remain, doubts persist about the effective implementation of the programme.
In August 2002, Union petroleum minister Ram Naik had declared that the use of ethanol would be made mandatory in the chosen regions beginning January 2003. Full compliance was to be achieved by June 30 this year. This date was later changed to September 30. Though nine states were originally included in the plan, Tamil Nadu has been exempted since it is yet to thrash out crucial taxation issues. Significantly, this problem is prevalent in other states, too, but to a lesser extent. According to petroleum secretary B K Chaturvedi, the states that will start using the green fuel are Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The uts include Daman and Diu, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Pondicherry.
When the project was unveiled, it was seen as perhaps the first step towards the adoption of renewable energy. The use of ethanol