MyIndMakers | India to contribute 25% of global fuel demand by 2040: Hardeep Singh Puri

Jan 10,2023

India will contribute 25% of global fuel demand by 2040 and achieve 20% ethanol blending in petrol by 2025, union minister for petroleum and natural gas Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday.

India was able to navigate the “most formidable energy crisis” on account of its four-pronged energy security strategy, including diversification of energy supplies, increasing India's exploration & production footprint, meeting energy transition through gas-based economy and green hydrogen and electric vehicles, the minister said.

“The government of India intends to increase India's exploration acreage to 0.5 million sq km by 2025 and 1 million sq. km. by 2030,” the minister said. The government successfully reduced the 'No Go' area by 99 percent, opening .91 million sq km of acreage.

Underlining an increase in the ethanol blending in petrol from 1.53% in 2013-14 to 10.17% in 2022, Puri said that the government’s updated target is to achieve 20% ethanol blending in petrol from 2030 to 2025-26. He said, India increased the number of its crude oil suppliers from 27 countries in 2006-07 to 39 in 2021-22 and attributed the growth to the addition of new suppliers like Columbia, Russia, Libya, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea while India strengthened its relationship with countries like US and Russia.

The union minister said that the government is also setting up five 2G ethanol bio refineries in places, including, Panipat (Parali) in Haryana, Bathinda in Punjab, Bargarh (Parali) in Odisha, Numaligarh (Bamboo) in Assam and Devangere in Karnataka.

Giving information on E20 fuel, the petroleum minister noted that the phased rollout of E20 fuel would start on 1st April 2023. “The E20 fuel is a 20% blend of ethanol and 80% of fossil-based fuel. The planned introduction of E20 fuel aims to reduce the reliance on fossil-based fuels and to reduce vehicular emissions,” he added. Puri said that the government intends to increase India’s exploration acreage to 0.5 million sq. km. by 2025 and 1.0 million sq. km. by 2030. He noted that the government has successfully reduced the ‘No Go’ area by 99%, opening .91 million sq. km. of acreage.

The union minister also hailed the excise cuts announced by Prime Minister Modi, saying, “Diesel prices, which in India between December 2021 and December 2022 rose by only 3%, went up by 34% in the USA, 36% in Canada, 25% in Spain and 10% in the UK.”

Talking about the government’s plan to invest Rs 19,744 crore into the National Green Hydrogen Mission, Puri said his ministry would aggressively pursue green hydrogen to support the development of the nascent industry. The cabinet on January 4 approved the much-awaited National Green Hydrogen Mission with an initial outlay of Rs 19,744 crore.

“OMCs (Oil Marketing Companies) are targeting the installation of alternate fuel stations (EV charging/ CNG/ LPG/ LNG/ CBG etc.) at 22,000 retail outlets by May 2024,” the minister said.