Maruti Suzuki on Thursday unveiled India’s first flex-fuel passenger car, the WagonR. This milestone means India is moving toward using cleaner, plant-based fuels like ethanol, which helps reduce the country’s dependence on imported petrol and lowers pollution.
The new model is capable of running on ethanol-petrol blends ranging from E20 to E100, making it the first mass-selling passenger vehicle in India to run on 100 percent ethanol. The company said the launch is in line with India’s broader efforts to reduce its dependence on conventional petrol and increase the use of biofuels in the transport sector.
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari was also present at the unveiling ceremony, who highlighted the government’s continued efforts to promote clean transportation solutions.
He also said the government plans to introduce 15 per cent isobutanol blended diesel as part of its alternative fuel strategy.
Gadkari urged automobile companies like Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and Hero MotoCorp to work on converting old vehicles into flex-fuel-friendly models and making them compliant with stricter emission standards, including Euro 6 norms.
He said such measures will help reduce air pollution and support the vehicle scrappage programme aimed at removing old, highly polluting vehicles from the roads.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari highlighted that making and selling vehicles is a major force behind India’s economic growth. He noted that India now has the world’s third-largest vehicle industry, which adds a huge amount of money to the country’s overall wealth.
The company’s Managing Director and CEO Hisashi Takeuchi also said that the company is investing in compressed biogas (CBG) projects and exploring other clean technologies such as hydrogen fuel.
Maruti Suzuki officials also shared their comprehensive clean mobility strategy. Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer of the company’s marketing and sales department, said that nearly half of the green vehicles sold in the industry last fiscal year were manufactured by Maruti Suzuki.
