Bikes that can run on multiple fuels to be launched by the end of this month

The rising level of pollution in India has caused grave problems for a few cities. Steps are being taken to reduce the vehicular pollution in India and promote the cleaner mode of transportation. Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister has announced that at least two major bike makers are working on flex-fuel or dual-fuel vehicles that will be launched soon.

A flex-fuel vehicle can operate on both petrol and ethanol and Gadkari says that two manufacturers have promised to come up with electric as well as flex-engine motorcycles by the end of this month. India is one of the largest importers of crude oil in this world and the nation depends highly on the production of the other countries. Ethanol, which is produced by fermenting glucose derived from sugars, starch or cellulose can bring down India’s dependency on crude oil import.

Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister, Transport and Shipping said to PTI,

“These can be run on 100 per cent petrol and 100 per cent ethanol,” the minister said. Gadkari also emphasised the need to diversify agriculture towards power and energy by producing ethanol. The country incurs a huge Rs 7 lakh crore on import bills
of crude and if “we save even Rs 2 lakh crore out of this by indigenous ethanol, it will turn around the agriculture economy.”

The Indian government is also working on policies to encourage the ethanol. The fuel is half the price of petrol and can be generated from the agricultural surplus or side products. Gadkari has also urged North Eastern states to have a massive bamboo plantation that can be used as a raw material for producing ethanol.

Car manufacturing giants like Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Ford and more offer flex-fuel vehicles in many international markets. American countries like United States, Brazil, and Canada have abundant of such vehicles.

Gadkari also says that the government is working to promote electric buses using supercapacitors. Such buses can run for 36 km after charging for only 3 minutes.