India to pitch for international biofuels alliance at G20: Puri

New Delhi: India will pitch for a global alliance on biofuels at the upcoming G20 meeting on lines of the highly successful international solar alliance, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday. India, the world's third largest oil-consuming and importing nation, is now pushing for greater use of biofuels extracted from sugarcane, cereals and agri waste as a means to cut reliance on crude oil. While addressing the KPMG's ENRich 2022 conference, Puri said, "We will utilise our G20 presidency to try and set up an international biofuel alliance like the International Solar Alliance."

International biofuel alliance to develop an ecosystem for fuel standards: Puri

"India is taking over the presidency of the group of 20 major economies, also called G20, and will host a meeting of the member nations in September next year. With nations from Brazil to the US producing biofuels, the alliance would look to develop an ecosystem for fuel standards and engines and collaboration on technology for faster adoption," he added.

'India has achieved 10 percent ethanol blending'

Puri said India is already using petrol mixed with 10 percent ethanol extracted from sugarcane and other agri products (90 percent petrol, 10 percent ethanol).

"We have brought forward the target for mixing 20 percent ethanol in petrol to 2024-25 from 2030. And going by the effort on ground, I can say with some degree of certainty that 20 percent blending can be achieved even before 2024-25," he said.

Hardeep Puri launches Offshore Bid Round; promises transparency, efficiency to investors

Mixing ethanol with petrol will reduce import: Puri

Puri noted that India imports 85 percent of its oil needs and doping ethanol with petrol is aimed at reducing the import dependence. Also, biofuels have lesser emissions and aid in meeting carbon goals. He said India is diversifying its oil import basket, tapping newer supply regions. From buying oil from 27 nations, the basket has now expanded to 37, he said. "Diversification would help in cutting dependence on any one particular region or country and help mitigate any supply shocks," he added.

(PSU Watch– India's Business News centre that places the spotlight on PSUs, Bureaucracy, Defence and Public Policy is now on Google News. Click here to follow. Also, join PSU Watch Channel in your Telegram. You may also follow us on Twitter here and stay updated.)