Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari on 28th August, unveiled a 100 per cent ethanol-fuelled variant of Toyota’s Innova car. The car is World’s first BS-VI (Stage-II), electrified flex-fuel vehicle. Ethanol being an indigenous, eco-friendly, and renewable fuel holds promising prospects for India, said Gadkari.
“It is the dream of all of us to have cars, two-wheelers and autos running on ethanol,” he said during the event. Union Minister Hardeep Puri was also present during the event.
“This innovative vehicle is based on the Innova Hycross and is engineered to adhere India’s stricter emission standards, marking it as the first-ever BS 6 (Stage-II), electrified flex-fuel vehicle prototype globally. The forthcoming stages for this prototype encompass meticulous refinement, homologation, and certification processes,” said Gadkari. He opined that biofuel can do wonders and save a lot of forex which is being spent on the import of petroleum.
Gadkari said that he started taking interest in biofuels in 2004 after the petrol price hike in the country and visited Brazil for this purpose. “If we want to become Atamnirbhar (self-reliant) we have to bring this oil import to zero. At present it is Rs 16 lakh crore. This is a big loss to the economy,” Gadkari had said earlier. The union minister, who has been exhorting automakers to come out with alternative fuel-powered and green vehicles, had last year launched a hydrogen-powered car, Toyota Mirai EV.
