Lok Sabha Question No. 909 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-02
Subject: Imported Fossil Fuel
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: Jagdambika Pal

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 909 TO BE ANSWERED ON 2 nd  December 2021

## Imported Fossil Fuel

## 909. SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL:

## पेोलयम और ाक ृ तक गैस मंी

## Will the Minister of PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS be pleased to state:

The text of the question is as under: -

- (a) the manner in which the Government is planning to reduce the dependence of the nation on the imported fossil fuel;
- (b) whether the Government has proposed any policy for flex engines;
- (c) if so, the details thereof along with the details of any comprehensive study carried out by the Government to evaluate the ratio for the ethanol to petrol for the flex fuel;
- (d) whether there will be any performance loss by the use of flex fuel;
- (e)  if  so,  whether  the  Government  has  carried  out  any  research  to  minimize  the performance loss, if any;
- (f)  whether  any  steps  have  been  taken  to  convert  the  regular  engines  into  Flex Engines; and
- (g) if not, whether the Government is going to deal with the shift from regular engines to the Flex engines?

## ANSWER

## पेोलयम और ाक ृ तक गैस मंालय के राय मंी ( ी रामेवर तेल ) MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS (SHRI RAMESWAR TELI)

- a) Increase  in  domestic  production  of  oil  and  natural  gas  has  a  major  role  in reducing the import dependence. To spur growth of domestic production and attract new entrants, a  large  number  of    policy  initiatives  in  the  areas  of      generation  of quality  geo-scientific  data  and  providing  easy  access,  finding  future  oil  &  gas  by awarding  new  exploration  acreage,  expediting  production  from  new  development acreages and from existing production acreages and focus on production maximisation have been taken in the recent years. The Government has also taken various  steps  towards  achieving  20%  blending  of  ethanol  in  petrol  by  2025  which includes allowing use of sugarcane, damaged food grains and maize for conversion to ethanol.  The National Policy on Biofuels - 2018 prescribes an indicative target of 5%  blending  of  biodiesel  in  diesel  by  2030.  Thrust  is  being  given  to  Advanced

Biofuels such as Second Generation (2G) Ethanol, Bio CNG/ Compressed Bio Gas (CBG), UCO based biodiesel etc. which can be sourced from wastes such as crop residues, Biomass, industrial waste, sewage water etc. and are abundantly available in the Country. 'SATAT' (Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation) scheme for CBG was launched in 2018 which envisages targeting production of 15 MMT of CBG from 5000 plants by 2023.

(b) and (c) The Government has not proposed any policy for flex engines. However, a production linked incentive scheme that incentivises Auto OEMs to accelerate the introduction of flex fuel vehicles has been notified.

(d) and (e) Due to the lower calorific value of flex fuels in comparison to petrol, there will  be  a  drop  in  fuel  efficiency.  However,  with modifications  in  engines  (hardware and tuning), the loss in efficiency due to blended fuel can be reduced.

(f)  and (g) No regulation for the conversion of regular engines to Flex engines has been issued.

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