India to target 20% ethanol blending in petrol by ’25: PM
Ethanol extracted from sugarcane as well as damaged food grains and agri waste is less polluting and also provides farmers alternate income
India will meet a target of 20% ethanol blending in petrol by 2025, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi announced on Saturday on the occasion of World Environment Day.
Earlier the Centre had announced that it would achieve the target by 2030 which has now been advanced by 5 years. He added that till 2014, on an average, only 1.5% of ethanol could be blended in India which has now reached about 8.5%.
In 2013-14, about 38 crore litres of ethanol was purchased in the country which has now grown to more than 320 crore litres. There is an eightfold increase in ethanol procurement which has benefitted the sugarcane farmers of the country.
Most of the ethanol manufacturing units are concentrated in 4-5 states where sugar production is high but now food grain-based distilleries are being established to expand the network to the whole country, he said.
“India is a strong proponent of climate justice and is moving ahead with a lofty global vision like the founding of International Solar Alliance for realizing the vision of One Sun, One World, One Grid and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure initiative,” PM Modi said adding that India has been included in the top 10 countries of the world in the Climate Change Performance Index. He said India has taken both hard and soft approaches to fight climate change.
On the hard approach, he noted that our capacity for renewable energy has increased by more than 250% in the last 6-7 years. India is today among the top 5 countries of the world in terms of installed renewable energy capacity.
Especially the capacity of solar energy has increased by about 15 times in the last 6 years.
As far as a soft approach is concerned PM mentioned India’s drive to phase out single use plastics, beach cleaning and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
By providing free gas connections under the Ujjwala scheme, by providing electricity connections under the Saubhagya scheme, to crores of poor, their dependence on wood has greatly reduced, he said.
“India is setting an example to the world that it is not necessary to stop development for protecting the environment,” he stressed saying that economy and ecology can go together.
Clean and efficient energy systems, resilient urban infrastructure and planned eco-restoration are a part of the AatmaNirbhar Bharat Campaign, he said.
“India is working with a holistic approach through the National Clean Air Programme to curb air pollution. Waterways and multimodal connectivity will not only strengthen the mission of green transport, but also improve the logistics efficiency of the country. Today, the service of metro rail in the country has increased from 5 cities to 18 cities which has helped in reducing the use of personal vehicles. A large part of the country’s railway network has been electrified for this purpose,” PM Modi said during the conference, adding that before 2014, only 7 airports had a solar power facility, today this number has increased to more than 50. More than 80 airports have been installed with LED lights.
The Centre plans to develop Gujarat’s Kevadiya as an electric vehicle city. Infrastructure is being built for only battery powered buses, two-wheeler and four-wheelers in Kevadiya.