Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India Energy Week (IEW) 2023 in Bengaluru, Karnataka, on Monday. The two-day long event is said to showcase India’s rising prowess as an energy transition powerhouse.

PM Modi also launched the E20 Fuel and Flagged off Green Mobility Rally organised by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation in the presence of state governor, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, the Union minister for petroleum & natural gas, and the state minister for petroleum & natural gas and labour & employment.

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During the event, the PM also flagged off Green Mobility Rally organised by the HPCL. The rally, which was aimed to promote green fuels, witnessed participation of 57 vehicles running on sustainable green energy sources viz., E20, E85, Flex Fuel, Hydrogen, Electric, etc.

Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Labour & Employment Rameswar Teli received the drivers of vehicles.

The programs also witnessed participation of around 1,500 college students. Leading the rally were two celebrity motorsports drivers, Alisha Abdullah and Sailesh Bolishetti, who were felicitated during the event by the MoS along with lady drivers who were driving 3-Wheelers running on E85 Fuels in the rally.

HPCL’s Director Finance (Addl. Charge Director HR) said the ministry’s resolve is to truly make the colour of Energy Green from Brown and open pathways to a greener sustainable India.

At the culmination of the rally, Teli said that this Green Mobility Rally will help raise a lot of awareness in the nation towards green and sustainable fuels. He underlined that the government of India’s policy pushes like Ethanol Blending Program and National Green Hydrogen Mission will fuel the Indian economy towards its target of a 5 trillion dollar economy and realizing Net Zero.

Acting on the Centre’s Ethanol blending roadmap, Union minister Hardeep S Puri launched E20 fuel at 84 Retail Outlets of Oil Marketing Companies in 11 States/UTs. E20 is a blend of 20 per cent ethanol with petrol. The Government aims to achieve a complete 20% blending of ethanol by 2025 which was earlier targeted at 2030, and HPCL and other oil marketing companies are setting up 2G-3G ethanol plants that will facilitate the progress.

With the aim of Aatmanirbharta in the field of energy, the government claims a six-time increase in ethanol production since 2014. It has also led to a reduction of 318 Lakh Metric Tonnes of CO2 emissions and foreign exchange savings of around Rs 54,000 crore. As a result, there has been a payment of around Rs 81,800 crore towards ethanol supplies from 2014 to 2022 and a transfer of more than Rs 49,000 crore to farmers.