Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri said on Thursday that India has increased ethanol blending in petrol from 1.53 per cent in 2013-14 to 10.17 per cent in July 2022.
Addressing the CII Bio-Energy summit, Puri said that setting up 2G refineries to make ethanol from parali (Panipat refinery) and bamboo (Numaligarh refinery) with the twin objectives of reducing pollution along with achieving energy security goals is another milestone in this direction.
Referring to the green hydrogen policy, the minister described it as a revolutionary shift, which is set to make India a global hub for green hydrogen and green ammonia production.
India aims to produce 4 million tonnes of green hydrogen annually and accrue Rs 1 lakh crore of cumulative fossil fuel import savings by 2030, the minister informed.
Puri added that the government is working with companies in countries such as the UK and Germany for domestic manufacturing of electrolysers to make deployment of hydrogen as an energy source affordable.
The minister also said that India is undertaking an ambitious journey of energy transition to achieve net carbon zero by 2070 and this transition has to be stable and ensure that it remains consistent.
“Our oil marketing companies have come out with their respective net zero targets — Indian Oil by 2046, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum by 2040 — which also means that they are gearing up for the change in energy source and use going forward,” Puri said.