India is the front runner in mitigating climate change globally and is progressing fast on its energy transition agenda, said Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri.
While speaking at Auto Expo-2023, he said that India is willing to innovate to keep its pledge of protecting the environment while simultaneously addressing the growing demand for energy.
The minister said that for the automobile industry, the event will be an exposition of our technology, capability and vision of the mobility for tomorrow-safer, cleaner, connected and shared.
He added that for the visitor, it will be an experience of the mobility ecosystem that is unfolding every day and offering better solutions for all our requirements.
“It will also provide a platform for domestic and international investors and other stakeholders," he said.
Talking about the progress made by India in terms of ethanol blending, the Puri said that we have increased the ethanol blending in petrol from 1.53 per cent in 2013-14 to 10.17 per cent in 2022, which was well ahead of the November 2022 deadline and advanced its target to achieve 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol from 2030 to 2025-26.
"This has resulted not only augmenting the country’s energy security but also translated into a forex savings of over Rs 41,500 crore, reduced GHG emissions of 27 lakh MT and has benefitted farmers with expeditious payment of over Rs.40,600 crores made to the farmers," he added.
The minister also mentioned the reduction in Security deposit amount from 5 per cent to 1 per cent extending a benefit of around Rs 400 crore to ethanol suppliers for Ease of Doing Business and reduction of the GST on Bio-fuel from 18 per cent to 5 per cent
The minister said that the government is setting up five 2G ethanol bio-refineries in the country at Panipat (Parali) in Haryana, Bathinda in Punjab, Bargarh (Parali) in Odisha, Numaligarh (Bamboo) in Assam and Devangere in Karnataka.
“We are also launching a global alliance on biofuels, along with the USA and Brazil during India’s Presidency of G-20," he said.