Flex fuel hybrid vehicles can be a good solution for India: Praj Industries' Shishir Joshipura

Flex fuel vehicles have a brighter future in India’s mobility ecosystem if one goes by its virtues. That is the belief of advocates of flex fuel set-ups in India including Pune-based Praj Industries, a biofuel technology specialist.

Shishir Joshipura, CEO and MD, Praj Industries says that the country's first flex fuel hybrid car demonstrator that was unveiled by Toyota in October could turn out to be an ideal solution for the country as it does not restrict ethanol blending fuel levels to just 20 percent but instead can take it up all the way to 85 percent. 

Earlier this month, Japanese auto major Toyota showcased its Corolla Altis Hybrid as its pilot project to test flex-fuel-powered cars in India. It is already on sale in markets like Brazil where the car is tuned to use ethanol-blended fuel (E85). It also gets Toyota’s full-hybrid technology, which is seen in vehicles like the Camry and the Urban Cruiser Hyryder in India. 

Joshipura, during the post Q2 FY23 results meeting said that the ethanol blending segment is still relatively plain vanilla for every petrol-powered vehicle on the road. However, if one changes their perspective, the first flex fuel car that also has strong hybrid connections appears to be the best choice for India, he reckons.

Shishir Joshipura: "Flex fuel vehicles will drive demand because they are no longer limited to 20 percent and can go all the way up to 85 percent."

"So, flex fuel vehicles will drive demand because they are no longer limited to 20 percent and can go all the way up to 85 percent," said Joshipura, before emphasising that it will help in massively spurring the demand in a positive manner. 

Joshipura added that India’s E20 program is marching ahead of its target and indicates a clearer admission that biofuels have an increasingly important role to play as they address a multitude of issues across the economic, social and environmental spectrum. 

On the performance side, the company's consolidated income from operations stood at Rs 876 crore during Q2FY23, translating to a 65 percent year-on-year (YoY) jump as against Rs 532 crore during the comparable period last year. Similarly, net profit stood at Rs 48.13 crore in Q2FY23 as compared to Rs 33.34 crore in Q2FY22, an increase of 44 percent. The order backlog as of September 2022 is at Rs 3,346 crore, comprising 87.5 percent of domestic orders.

Fuel flexibility with flex-fuel enabled cars 
A vehicle equipped with a flex-fuel engine can run on more than one type of fuel or a blend. Such an engine is capable of automatically adjusting to any ratio, thanks to modifications like a fuel composition sensor and suitable ECU programming. Flex-fuel engines can run on 100 percent petrol or ethanol or as blends and are already available in countries such as Brazil, the USA and Canada.

India already has ethanol-blended petrol with a doping level of about 10 percent. Last year, the government brought forward its target by two years, from 2025 to 2023, to produce 20 percent ethanol-blended petrol (E20)

The company's consolidated income from operations stood at Rs 876 crore during Q2 FY23 — translating to a 65 percent year-on-year (YoY) jump as against Rs 532 crore during the comparable period last year. Similarly, net profit stood at Rs 48.13 crore in Q2FY23 as compared to Rs 33.34 crore in Q2FY22, an increase of 44 percent. The order backlog as of September 2022 is at Rs 3,346 crore comprising 87.5 percent of domestic orders.

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