Road Transport Secretary V Umashankar announced India's plan to mandate isobutanol-diesel blending this year. The ministry is also advancing e-truck infrastructure, hydrogen logistics, and expanding barrier-less MLFF tolling systems nationwide.
India is likely to introduce a mandate for blending isobutanol with diesel later this year as part of efforts to improve energy security and decarbonise the road transport sector, Road Transport and Highways Secretary V Umashankar said on Friday.
Speaking at the CII Multimodal Transportation and Logistics Summit in New Delhi, Umashankar said the government is seriously examining diesel blending as diesel consumption in the country is nearly double that of petrol, making its impact on energy security significantly larger.
"Blending of diesel has been looked into with great seriousness. Bharat Petroleum is already undertaking strategic research for iso-butanol blending with diesel. And the results are very encouraging," he said.
He added, "It is quite likely that the blending mandate will start coming in somewhere later this year. And diesel consumption is almost two times that of petrol consumption. So, the impact on blending in terms of diesel is concerned will have a far greater impact on our energy security than even petrol blending."
Push for Electric Heavy Commercial Vehicles
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is also planning to bring a draft notification on truck-trailers soon to support the development of electric heavy commercial vehicle infrastructure.
According to the Secretary, the proposal is aimed at addressing concerns around battery-swapping and charging infrastructure for electric trucks through a "tractor-trailer interchangeability" model.
"So, what we are looking at is what we call a tractor-trailer interchangeability. Where you don't need to swap the battery, you swap the entire front part of the truck," Umashankar said.
He explained that detachable trailers and charging at designated locations could help reduce idle time for trucks during battery charging.
Hydrogen Transport Pilots Show Promise
The Secretary also spoke about the government's pilot projects on hydrogen-powered logistics and public transport.
He said the results of hydrogen logistics experiments have been positive and operating costs are comparable with other transport systems, though hydrogen refuelling stations remain expensive.
"The results are very good. The key cost is comparable with respect to other forms of logistics travel. It's not high. Only high-cost element there is the hydrogen re-fuelling stations," he said.
He added that hydrogen buses have recently been introduced on routes between Delhi-Faridabad and Delhi-Noida with government-supported refuelling stations.
"On fuelling it travels 450 kms before it needs a refuel," he said, while discussing the possibility of setting up hydrogen refuelling stations along major highway corridors such as Delhi-Mumbai.
Modernising Toll Collection and Highways
The Ministry is also expanding Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF), a barrier-less tolling system that allows vehicles to pass toll plazas without stopping.
"This (MLFF) has already been introduced in two toll plazas and it's working very successfully. And the third one is likely to go live in the next 8-10 days," Umashankar said.
He added that the government plans to extend the system to all four-lane-plus toll plazas across the country within the coming year, alongside the rollout of an advanced traffic management system beginning with Delhi NCR.
The Ministry is also focusing on expressways and access-controlled highways to separate slow-moving and fast-moving traffic and improve average vehicle speeds on roads and highways. (ANI)
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