Banglore, India- On 12^th March 2023, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari initiated a National Pilot Programme for running city buses on 15% Methanol blended fuel (MD15). Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has provided some of its buses to Ashok Leyland as part of a three-month field trial. For the country's commercial implementation of Methanol, NITI Aayog, the agency that conceptualized a roadmap for the Methanol economy, will submit a report after the trial run to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of India and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

According to the NITI Aayog, an assessment of drivability and durability has been conducted on the 10-tonne prototype truck. Detailed work will be done on fine-tuning vehicle performance, engine, and durability in the coming months. It has been claimed that MDI5 will reduce pollution by 20%, which will be cheaper than Diesel.

A sum of 80 Methanol-fueled buses will be presented as a part of the pilot project by BMTC. Ashok Leyland will be the first to give 20 buses on the main stage, followed by other bus makers once they agree with NITI Aayog. Also, Indian Oil Corporation will give free Diesel and Methanol for 90 days for the pilot project.

With this initiative, the consumption of Methanol will surge with healthy imports from Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Russia. Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited (GNFC) will also have to increase its production rate to cope with the region's demand. The demand for Crude and Gasoline will significantly reduce, which will disrupt the supply/demand fundamentals. Nitin Gadkari also added that consumers would be benefited as the price of Methanol is Rupees 25 to Rupees 26 per liter, whereas Diesel per liter costs 110 rupees.

MD15 can also be adopted by Diesel vehicles without any modification and can be utilized as an immediate replacement for Diesel. Utilization of Methanol would decrease dependence on the import of fuel and diminish the pollution level.