NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the roll-out of petrol blended with 20% ethanol, from 84 pumps in 11 states and union territories, at the Indian Energy Week in Bengaluru. Currently, 10% ethanol is blended in petrol (10% ethanol, 90% petrol) and the government is planning to double the quantity of ethanol by 2025.
"We are also working very fast on Biofuel, and ethanol blending. In the last 9 years, we have increased ethanol blending in petrol from 1.5% to 10%. Now we are moving towards the target of 20% ethanol blending," the Prime Minister said, addressing India Energy Week 2023 in Bangalore. "The first phase of the rollout will cover 15 cities and within two years it will be expanded to the entire country."
The government, in a bid to reduce carbon emission, has introduced the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme. Under this programme, ethanol is added to petrol to reduce the consumption of fossil fuel. Experts believe this could reduce the import bill of crude oil, 85% of which India imports. Ethanol is naturally made by fermenting sugar and is abundant in the country.
The Prime Minister, while quoting International Energy Association, said India's energy demands will be the highest in the present decade, presenting an opportunity for the investors and stakeholders of the energy sector. He said India’s share in the global oil demand is 5%, which is expected to rise to 11%. India's gas demand is expected to rise to 500%. He underlined that new opportunities for investment and collaboration are being created by the expanding energy sector of India.
Talking about the strategy for the energy sector, the Prime Minister suggested four major verticals. "First is increasing domestic exploration and production, second, diversifying the supply, third, expanding fuels like biofuel, ethanol, compressed biogas and solar, and fourth, de-carbonisation via electric vehicles and hydrogen," Prime Minister Modi said.
The Prime Minister also said the country is trying to increase refining capacity to 450 MMTPA from the current capacity of 250 MMTPA. Also, the government is working on mission mode to increase the consumption of natural gas in the energy mix from 6% to 15% by 2030.
"The terminal regasification capacity of 21 MMTPA has doubled in 2022 while efforts are being made to increase it even more," said Modi.
He also added that the number of city gas distribution (CGD) networks in the country has gone up 9 times and the number of CNG stations has gone up to 5000 from 900 in 2014. The Prime Minister also touched upon the gas pipeline network, which has increased to 22,000 kilometres from 14,000 in 2014 and pointed out that the network will expand to 35,000 kilometres in the next 4-5 years.
On the National Green hydrogen mission, the Prime Minister said it will give the country a new direction. He said the country targets to produce 5 MMTPA green hydrogen by the end of this decade, which brings in the possibility of investment of more than Rs 8 lakh crore. He also added that India will increase the share of green hydrogen to 25% by replacing grey hydrogen.
The Prime Minister launched a programme to convert PET bottles into fabric under the 'Unbottled' initiative of the Indian Oil. The fabric made from recycled PET bottles is used to make uniforms. He also dedicated the twin-cooktop model of the IndianOil's Indoor Solar Cooking System and flagged off its commercial roll-out.