Hardeep Singh PuriBiofuel blending has increased from 1.4% in 2014 to 19% last month, and the nation has a target to increase it to 20% by Oct 2025. "We will achieve the target," said Union minister for petroleum and natural gas, Hardeep Singh Puri.
He was delivering a talk on 'Energy for Survival - Security and Climate Debate' at the seventh edition of Mangaluru literature festival, organised by Bharat Foundation at the TMA Pai international convention centre, Mangaluru, on Saturday.
"The initial target was 20% blending by 2030. We brought it down to 2025. Our daily consumption of crude oil for refining purposes went up from five million barrels a day to 5.4 million barrels. At the current rate of growth and projection of energy growth, I think it will be six to seven million barrels per day in the coming years. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), India's energy demand is expected to increase, and 25% of the growth in energy demand in the world will come from India," he said.
The minister highlighted that energy security could be strengthened through green hydrogen, biofuels, and CBG (compressed biogas), and reducing reliance on imported fossil fuels while also supporting the transition to environmentally friendly energy sources.
He expressed confidence in the green hydrogen initiative's potential for growth, targeting five million metric tonnes of production by 2030, particularly with pump storage implementation. He mentioned IOCL's recent tender for establishing a green hydrogen facility. He stressed the importance of supporting Karnataka's efforts to establish CBG plants and boost gas usage in overall energy consumption from 6% to 15%.
The govt has incorporated electrolysers into the Production Linked Incentives (PLI) programme. The green hydrogen mission allocated Rs 19,700 crore towards research and development incentive programmes, including PLI. This initiative successfully attracts all major electrolyzer manufacturers globally to establish their presence in India, he said.
The minister highlighted that whilst the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects India to become the fourth largest economy by 2027, he believes this milestone will be achieved earlier based on current indicators. He noted that prior to the 190-year colonial period, India contributed approximately 23 to 25% to global GDP. This significant share diminished to merely 3 or 4% by the time of independence. He also expressed confidence that maintaining current growth rates would propel India to become the third largest economy sooner than anticipated.
The minister explained that global crude oil availability is not scarce. Price increase occurs when OPEC, which could be described as an importer's cartel, decides to restrict the global crude supply.
