Know Indian government’s various initiatives for promotion of biofuels
India’s government has boosted biofuel production through initiatives like ethanol blending, reduced GST on ethanol and biodiesel, and financial support under the Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN Yojana. The Ethanol Blended Petrol program saved ₹28,400 crore in foreign exchange, substituted 4.3 million tonnes of crude oil, reduced CO2 emissions by 2.9 million tonnes, and facilitated ₹23,100 crore in farmer payments during 2023-24.
The Minister of State in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Suresh Gopi, informed in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today about various government initiatives for the promotion of biofuels.
The Government, since 2014, has taken several measures to enhance blending of ethanol in petrol which inter-alia includes expansion of feedstock for production of ethanol, administered price mechanism for procurement of sugarcane based ethanol under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme, lowered GST rate to 5% on ethanol for EBP Programme, introduction of various Ethanol Interest Subvention Schemes (EISS), during 2018-22, for ethanol production from molasses as well as grains and Long Term Offtake Agreements (LTOAs) by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) with Dedicated Ethanol Plants (DEPs) etc., Notification of the “Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN (Jaiv Indhan – Vatavaran Anukool fasal awashesh Nivaran) Yojana” 2019, amended in 2024, to provide financial support for integrated bio-ethanol projects for setting up Advanced Biofuels projects in the country using lignocellulosic biomass and other renewable feedstock, publishing guidelines for sale of biodiesel for blending with high speed diesel for transportation purposes-2019, reduction in GST rate for procurement of biodiesel for blending programme from 12% to 5%, amendment in the National policy on Biofuels-2018 mandating 5% blending of biodiesel in diesel.
Government is also promoting production and consumption of Compressed Biogas by providing financial assistance to Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) producers for procurement of biomass aggregation machinery and for development of pipeline infrastructure to connect CBG projects with City Gas Distribution (CGD) and by mandating sale of CBG in Compressed Natural Gas (Transport) and Piped Natural Gas (Domestic) segments of CGD networks
During the Ethanol Supply Year 2023-24 (as on 30.09.2024), Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme helped in expeditious payment of approximate Rs 23,100 crore to the farmers, approximate savings of more than Rs. 28,400 crore of foreign exchange, crude oil substitution of more than 43 lakh metric tonnes and net CO2 reduction of about 29 lakh metric tonnes.
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Source : Bio Energy Times
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