Toyota India, ISMA to co-promote ethanol usage

Toyota Kirloskar Motor has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) to create awareness and promote the use of ethanol as a sustainable biofuel in India.

The MoU was exchanged in the presence of Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, along with the other key government officials and dignitaries, at an event that marked the 120 years of establishment of first sugar mill in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Sudeep S. Dalvi – Senior VP and Chief Communication Officer was present during this occasion.

At the event, the OEM demonstrated its flexi-fuel strong hybrid electric vehicle along with an experiential drive.

ISMA, the interface between Indian government and the Sugar Industry in the country is instrumental in production of ethanol and plays an important role, including enabling requisite ethanol fuel availability in the country. Through this MoU, TKM and ISMA aim to accelerate the adoption of ethanol as an indigenous alternate clean fuel, thereby contributing to our nation’s goal to lower its dependence on fossil fuels as well as its carbon footprints.

The partners say being agriculture based and domestically produced fuel-source, higher use of ethanol will increase farmer incomes and create new jobs, thereby boosting the agrarian economy besides reducing the fossil fuel imports. The government also recently launched second-generation technologies for producing ethanol from agricultural residues like Agriculture waste (parali), which is currently otherwise burnt. 

The government of India has been actively promoting the use of ethanol as a biofuel and has set an ambitious target to achieve 20 percent ethanol blending in gasoline by 2025. By 2025–2026, it is expected that 86 million barrels of gasoline will be replaced by 20 percent ethanol, saving India Rs 30,000 crore in foreign exchange and reducing carbon emissions by 10 million tonnes. These benefits can be enhanced significantly with the advent of flexi fuel vehicle technologies, which can flexibly use higher ethanol blends from 20 percent to 85 percent, given the enormous potential of ethanol production that exists beyond capacity for E20 blends.