Ethanol blending in petrol rose to 10.17% in July 2022: Petroleum Minister

Ethanol blending in petrol rose to 10.17 per cent in July 2022 from 1.53 per cent in 2013-14, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday.

Setting up 2G refineries to make ethanol from the paddy stubble in Panipat and bamboo in Numaligarh with the twin objective of reducing pollution along with achieving energy security goals is another milestone in this direction, the minister said at the '11th CII Bio-Energy Summit' in the national capital.

"India has increased the ethanol blending in petrol from 1.53 per cent in 2013-14 to 10.17 per cent in July 2022," an official statement quoted Puri as saying.

On the Green Hydrogen Policy, he said with this revolutionary shift India is set to become a global hub for green hydrogen and green ammonia production and help save Rs 1 lakh crore of cumulative fossil fuel imports by 2030.

Last week, the Union Cabinet approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission with an outlay of Rs 19,744 crore with an aim to make India a global hub for the manufacturing of this clean source of energy.

The mission seeks to promote the development of a green hydrogen production capacity of at least 5 MMT (Million Metric Tonnes) per annum with an associated renewable energy capacity addition of about 125 GW in the country by 2030.

The Minister further said that India is undertaking an ambitious journey of energy transition to achieve net carbon zero by 2070. "Our OMCs (oil marketing companies) have come out with their respective net zero targets - IOCL by 2046, BPCL and HPCL by 2040 which also means that OMCs are gearing up for the change in energy source and use, going forward.