India Will Save Rs 1 Tn If 20% Ethanol Blending With Petrol Achieved: Shah
Narendra Modi government had set a target of 10 per cent ethanol blending in petrol by November 2022, said Shah
Amidst the high price of petrol and diesel, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that if India achieves the target of 20 per cent blending of ethanol with petrol by 2025, then the country will save about Rs 1 lakh crore in foreign exchange.
Shah said that in June 2021, the Narendra Modi government had set a target of 10 per cent ethanol blending in petrol by November 2022, which has been achieved five months ago. He said this after laying the foundation stone of KRIBHCO’s bioethanol plant at Hazira on the outskirts of Surat.
Amit Shah said, “The production of ethanol is going to change the entire economy of the petroleum sector in the coming days. Achieving the target of 20 per cent ethanol blending will result in foreign exchange savings of about Rs 1 lakh crore by 2025. Ethanol blending will also help in curbing the rising rates of petrol and diesel.”
He said that biofuel is a good option to reduce dependence on crude oil imports, whose production has increased from 172 million tonnes in 2011-12 to 212 million tonnes in 2021-22. He said that efforts are being made for this all over the world, India has prepared a systematic and scientific ethanol policy to achieve this. Shah said, “Despite these efforts, the US produces 55 per cent ethanol, Brazil 27 per cent and India three per cent.”
He said that there is a lot of potential in this sector, which cooperative units should tap, as Kribhco has done. Cooperative units have to come forward to increase the income of farmers. “In a way, the 10 per cent blending achieved five months before the November 2022 target has reduced crude oil imports by Rs 46,000 crore,” Shah said.
He said that bioethanol is made from cereals, molasses, plants and with 10 per cent blending, 2.7 million tonnes of carbon emissions have been reduced. “The day the government achieves the target of 20 per cent blending, these figures will double,” the minister said.
