New Delhi, March 3 || In the global energy landscape, India stands strong as the third largest biofuel producer, driving the shift towards cleaner and renewable energy, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, said on Monday.
The minister highlighted in a post on X social media platform that “India has achieved 19.6 per cent ethanol blending in petrol as of January this year and is set to achieve 20 per cent very soon – five years ahead of the original 2030 schedule, reducing fuel imports and emissions.”
During the last 10 years the ethanol blending initiatives have enhanced farmer incomes as it is made from sugarcane, increased rural employment, reduced CO2 emissions equivalent to planting 1.75 crore trees and resulted in savings of Rs 85,000 crore worth of foreign exchange, according to official estimates.
Public sector oil companies, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, have been at the forefront of this endeavour, introducing various blends of Ethanol with Petrol across the country.
The oil marketing companies have signed agreements with 131 dedicated ethanol plants. These plants are expected to add an annual production design capacity of 745 crore litres. OMCs have also invested in increasing storage capacity and allied infrastructure for handling higher blending percentages.