Govt’s biofuel initiative saves Rs 91,000 cr in import bills: Puri

Bengaluru: Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri has said through biofuel blending, the country saved 91,000 crore rupees on the import bills parallelly giving a much-needed boost to the agriculture sector.

Inaugurating the 27th Energy Technology Summit in Bengaluru on Tuesday, he said India has achieved the second position in biofuel blending globally.

He expressed confidence that India will achieve the target of 20 per cent biofuel blending by next year, much ahead of schedule.

As our refineries takes to green energy, the country will succeed in the goal towards green hydrogen,the Minister said. The Minister said India’s energy demand will grow by two and a half times by 2047. He said India’s crude oil refining capacity has reached 400 to 450 million metric tons per annum, which is one-third of the global average.

He said the country will have to double the efforts to achieve the net carbon zero emission target by 2070. Energy security, sustainability and technology innovation should go hand-in-hand to achieve the targets in the energy sector, the Minister said.

The three-day Energy Technology Meet has been organised by the Centre for High Technology and Indian Oil Corporation Limited 1200 participants are attending the Meet, in which 60 papers will be presented.

V Satish Kumar, Chairman & Director (Marketing), IndianOil, in his address said, “The future of the energy industry hinges on integrating green energy solutions into refining processes. Through cutting-edge technologies and resource optimization, we can build a resilient and environmentally responsible industry. ETM-2024 opens rich opportunities for our refining and petrochemicals sector, that can play a significant role in catalysing the nation’s aspirations.”

This flagship event of MoP&NG is marked by the presence of Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and several top cadre leaders of the Petroleum industry and Government of India.

Over 1300 delegates from India and abroad including domain experts, academia, licensors, R&D scientists, and other professionals from the Hydrocarbon sector are participating in this 3-day event.

23 Exhibitors will be showcasing their latest technologies. The Minister distributed the best energy efficient technology awards instituted by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry for the year 2023-24.