Number of petrol pumps selling biofuels jumped threefold in five years: Hardeep Puri

New Delhi [India], October 19 : Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep S Puri on Wednesday said that the number of petrol pumps selling biofuels has increased threefold from 29,897 in 2016-17 to 67,641 in 2021-22. India's ethanol demand is poised to grow to 10.16 billion litres by 2025, he noted.
The minister, who also has Housing and Urban Affairs portfolio, said India is ready from the supply side to launch E20.
"This target was advanced by five years from 2030 under the ethanol production goal of 1,000 crore litres to April 2023."
He said that there is a need to massively upscale the production of flex-fuel engine vehicles in the country, according to an official statement.
In the case of E20, 20 denotes the percentage of ethanol mixed with petrol. Essentially, the number signifies the percentage of ethanol in petrol.
The minister was speaking at the plenary session on 'A giant leap for biofuels - Ethanol blending & SATAT Scheme' at Siam's International Conference on Biofuels - A Pathway Towards Sustainable Future in New Delhi on Wednesday.
On the upscaling of flex-fuel engine vehicles in the country, Hardeep Puri said more options need to be created at various price points, including two-wheelers and three-wheelers, and the country needs them quickly. He said that there are projected timelines for the roll-out of such flex-fuel E10 and E20-compatible vehicles, but there is a pressing need to advance those timelines.
The Minister assured the automobile companies that as the world's fastest-growing and most robust major economy, there will be guaranteed consumer demand for flex-fuel and E20-compatible vehicles. The government, as has been reiterated, will provide comprehensive support from the supply, policy, and demand side for making the sale of flex-fuel E10 and E20 vehicles a viable business proposition for the auto industry, he said.
He said that the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had realised the game-changing opportunity for achieving economic growth, especially for the farming and rural economy, increasing India's domestic energy production and self-sufficiency, reducing air pollution, and helping India lead the world toward a clean energy transition.
In this background, National Biofuel Policy was enacted in 2018 to promote the production and consumption of biofuels, the statement said. Ethanol-blending percentage in petrol rose sharply from 0.67 per cent in 2013 to 10 per cent in May 2022, i.e., five months ahead of schedule, he said.
The Minister further added that the policy has translated into a reduction of 2.7 million tonne of carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions and savings of more than Rs 50,000 crore of foreign exchange. Achieving E20 blending with petrol by 2025 would help save foreign exchange for the country worth about Rs30,000 crore per annum.
During the event, the minister further elaborated upon the efforts of the government to promote the production of biofuels in the country. He mentioned about the twelve commercial plants and 10 demonstration plants of 2G biorefineries (using agricultural waste as substrate) that have been proposed to be built under the Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN Yojana in regions with adequate biomass supply. He also spoke about Asia's 2G ethanol biorefinery, which was unveiled by Prime Minister in Panipat, Haryana in August, 2022.
The statement also mentioned India was also launching a global alliance on biofuels, along with the US and Brazil, during India's Presidency of G20, the Minister said.
The Minister also talked about the support provided by the government to bio-energy technologies such as CBG with initiatives such as SATAT, under which 37 CBG plants have been commissioned, and approximately 9,000 tonne of Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) have been sold.
Hardeep S Puri highlighted that the forex saved by the government by substituting imported petroleum fuel with biofuel and natural gas with CBG is being used to subsidise other low-carbon mobility technologies, such as EVs, forming a self-reinforcing loop of the clean energy transition. So far, 4003 electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS) and 72 battery swapping stations have been put up by oil marketing companies across the country. OMCs have also planned to set up 20,000 EVCS in major cities and Highways across the country by 2024, he informed.
The minister called upon the Indian automakers to continue on the path of sustainability in order to make decarbonised mobility a reality. The nimble shift witnessed during Bharat Stage VI adoption needs to be replicated for the biofuel adoption initiatives, he said.