Lok Sabha Question No. 2113 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-02
Subject: Promotion of Bio-fuel
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: Rajeshbhai Naranbhai Chudasama

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2113 TO BE ANSWERED ON 2 nd  August 2021

## Promotion of Bio-fuel

## 2113. SHRI RAJESHBHAI CHUDASAMA:

## पेोलयम और ाक ृ तक गैस मंी

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

(a)  whether the Government proposes to formulate any project to reduce the import of crude oil and also a project for production of bio-fuel in view of surging prices of crude oil in International market;

(b)  if  so,  whether  any  system  for  the  same  is  proposed  in  collaboration with  any other country and if so, the details thereof;  and

(c)  the  details  of  the  import  of  petroleum  products  during  each  of  the last  three years?

## 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)  Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has taken several steps to reduce import of  Crude  Oil  inter  alia  demand  substitution  by  promoting  usage  of  natural  gas  as fuel/feedstock  across  the  country  towards  increasing  the  share  of  natural  gas  in economy  and  moving  towards  gas  based  economy,  promotion  of  renewable  and alternate  fuels  like  ethanol,  second  generation  ethanol,  compressed  bio  gas  and biodiesel, refinery process improvements, promoting energy efficiency and conservation, efforts for increasing production of oil and natural gas through various policies  under  Production  Sharing  Contract  (PSC)  regime,  Discovered  Small  Field Policy,  Hydrocarbon  Exploration  and  Licensing  Policy,  etc.  Government  has  also provided functional freedom to National Oil Companies and for wider private sector participation  by  streamlining  approval  processes  including  electronic  single  window mechanism; To give a major thrust to Ethanol Blending Programme, Government of India through Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) are establishing 2G Ethanol plants across  the  country,  also  for  promoting  the  use  of  Compressed  Bio  Gas  (CBG)  as automotive fuel, Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative  has  been  launched  under  which  Oil  Marketing  Companies  are  inviting Expression of Interest (EoI) from potential entrepreneurs to produce CBG.

- (b)  A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on 25 th January, 2020 between  the  Republic  of  India  and  the  Federative  Republic  of  Brazil  on bioenergy  cooperation  which  aimed  at  exchange  of  best  practices  in  this  field between the two Governments and Centres of Excellence in the two countries.
- (c)  Details of the import of petroleum products for the last three years are as below:

| Years                                                   |   2018-19 |   2019-20 |   2020-21 (P) |
|---------------------------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|---------------|
| Import of Petroleum Products ( in Million Metric Tonne) |      33.3 |      43.8 |          43.5 |

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