Sunday, 13 Oct, 2024
By: Yash Gupte
According to the ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the target of 10% ethanol blending has been achieved five months ahead of its schedule. The target was to be achieved in November 2022.
According to the ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the target of 10% ethanol blending has been achieved five months ahead of its schedule. The target was to be achieved in November 2022. The Government of India has been actively encouraging the usage of ethanol-blended fuel across the nation as part of its efforts to transition to a sustainable energy future and to uphold its commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Ethanol is one of the principal bio-fuels, which is naturally produced by the fermentation of sugars by yeasts or via petrochemical processes such as ethylene hydration. It is used as a chemical solvent and in the synthesis of organic compounds, apart from being an alternative fuel source.
A “Roadmap for Ethanol Blending in India 2020-25” was released by the PM in June 2021 which laid out a detailed pathway for achieving 20% ethanol blending. Due to the coordinated efforts of the Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) the target of 10% blending under the programme has been achieved much ahead of the targeted deadline of November 2022 wherein the Public Sector OMCs have attained an average 10% ethanol blending in petrol across the country. The Union Budget 2022–23 announced an additional differential excise levy of Rupees 2 per litre on unblended petrol starting on October 1st, 2022, to further incentivize fuel blending. On the account of World Biofuel Day which is celebrated on 10th August, PM Narendra Modi has dedicated a 2G Ethanol Plant in Panipat, Haryana to the nation.
Based on state-of-the-art indigenous technology, the project will turn a new chapter in India’s waste-to-wealth endeavors by utilizing about Two lakh tonnes of rice straw (parali) annually to generate around Three crore litres of Ethanol annually. Under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme, the government has been pushing the use of ethanol as a blend stock with key automobile fuels like gasoline in accordance with the National Policy on Biofuels - 2018. Under this programme, an indicative target of 20% blending of ethanol in petrol by 2030 was laid out. Subsequently, the target year for achieving 20% ethanol blending in petrol was also advanced to 2025. The central government has taken various efforts to increase the blending of ethanol to meet the blending target. These efforts will pave the way for the 'Make in India' drive thereby leading to a reduction in the import of petroleum products. Farmers have been benefitted a lot from this scheme. There has been a great rise in payments to farmers enabled by the Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme. The chart below shows the exponential rise in payment to farmers enabled by the EBP programme.
Source: Press Information Bureau
The chart shows that there is a rise in payment to farmers enabled by the EBP Programme. From Rs. 1119 crore in 2013-14, the payment to the farmers has increased to Rs.16793 crore in 2021-22. In addition to this, in the past six years, ethanol supplies and blending percentages have surged by more than five times. While ethanol purchases totaled 38 crore litres in the 2013–2014 fiscal year, they nearly increased by eight times to 322 crore litres in the 2020–21 fiscal year.
